Heart of Darkness
by NoGoodFox
Summary: 'Should have known...light is just as hard to destoy as darkness.' Riku and sora set out to seal the remaining keyholes. Dark Riku later.  Rated T for some blood, language, and violence.
1. An End That Leads To A Beginning

Thoughts: 'Buenos Dias'

Dialogue: "Buenos Dias"

Sound effects: **Bam, Whack, Boom**

Reading/letter: _Italics_

Re-edited chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Characters, worlds, and anything other I may use from this game or others.**

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**Rising Darkness**

**Normal Pov:**

**Dakrness:**

Sora sat there and enjoyed the sound of the waves and the feel of the wind blowing through his hair. 'Maybe being in the dark isn't so bad and as long as my friends are safe, I don't min-.'

"Sora?"

Sora's thoughts were interrupted by his fellow companion of the dark and best friend, Riku. Sora looked at him with a questioning glance and an intelligent question of "hmm?"

Smiling, Riku held out a letter to Sora and said "I think its for you."

Wondering what it could be about, I grabbed the paper from Riku and began to read.

_Thinking of you, wherever you are._

_We pray for our sorrows to end,_

_and hope that are hearts will blend._

_Now I will step forward to realize this wish._

_And who knows?_

_Starting a new journey might not be so hard_

_or maybe it has already begun._

_There are many worlds, but they share the same sky-_

_One sky, One destiny_

_-Kairi_

As he finished reading the letter, Sora heard a soft sound like many bells ringing. He looked up to see a glowing doorway being formed in front of him.

Next to him, Riku looked towards the doorway and said a single word, "light."

Gazing at the door, Sora could only repeat what Riku had said, " The door to light." After a pause, he suddenly felt inspired and stood up with a smile on his face. Sora turned to Riku, held out his hand and said " We'll go together."

Riku looked up at Sora and smirked "yeah."

Taking his hand, Sora pulled him up and we walked into the door of light. As Riku passed through the light, he heard a fount sound of laughter in the dark.

**Destiny Islands**

Walking along the beach, Kairi thought about everything that just happened. 'After all that trouble of remembering Sora and finding Riku, I get separated from them again and end up back to the starting point of my journey.' Sighing, she kicked a rock along the beach and sadly thought, 'Will we ever get to see each other again?'

**WHAM!**

"Ow!" Holding her head, she looked at the person responsible for causing the pain she currently felt. " Why did you do that for Donald?"

Said wizard held his staff like a club with a determined looked on his face. "Kairi like I've told Sora before, there is no room for frowns in this group."

"Gosh, Donalds right Kairi" Surprised, she turned to the person who agreed with Donald.

" What do you think Sora and Riku will think when they finally get back and see how sad you are."

"I know that Goofy, but you have to understand I have been waiting for so long for them to come back. Then when I finally found them, I lose them again" She turned away so they couldn't see the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. Suddenly, she felt a small gloved hand grasp her hand in a comforting manner. She looked down to see Mickey with a warm smile on his face.

"Don't worry Kairi, as long as your hearts are connected you will see each other again."

"Yeah!" Donald chipped in with a smile on his face "Just hold on to that bond and when you finally see him, you can greet him with a smile."

"Yep" Goofy said with a laugh "Sora will be back before you know it."

"And don't forget that Sora Promised that you would see each other again" said Mickey.

' Their right, I should believe that I will see Sora and Riku again.'

"You guys are right, we will see each other again because Sora promised. That promise binds are hearts together and that will bring us together again." Smiling Kairi turned towards the ocean 'Sora, Riku, wherever you guys are, I'll be waiting for you guys here. When we finally meet, I'll greet you with a smile on my face.'

Suddenly, she saw a blue flash in the sky and two falling streaks land in the ocean. Seconds later Kairi saw Sora and Riku pop out of the ocean. She simply stared at the two with a stunned feeling and only a single thought running through her brain 'That was fast'. Snapping out of it she ran toward the ocean yelling " Sora, Riku!"

"Sora, Riku!" Turning towards the voice. Riku and Sora saw Kairi standing on the beach waving at them. Sora turned to Riku with an excited look on his face then began to swim towards the beach. With a short laugh, Riku followed Sora to the beach and arrived in time to see Donald and Goofy tackle Sora into the water. Before he could laugh at the funny seen before me, he caught a speeding blur flying at his head. Laughing, Riku set Mickey on the ground and smiled at Sora as he looked back at him with one of the happiest faces Rive had ever seen. Sora turned back to Kairi with a smile on his face and Riku watched as Kairi returned it with a smile and a giggle. Still smiling, Sora reached into his back pocket and brought out the pendant that Kairi gave him. He looked down at it with a smile on his face and looked back up at Kairi with an even bigger smile if possible. Suddenly, Riku saw Roxas and Namine in place of Sora and Kairi. Stunned, he simply stared at the two as they smiled at each other. Then the vision faded and it was Sora and Kairi again.

"W-We're back" said Sora with a smile on his face.

Reaching toward him, Kairi simply said "You're home"

As Riku watched the seen before him, he felt a dark tingle of jealousy and hate flowed through him.

**A few days later…**

Riku sat there at the usual hangout spot looking at the sunset and listening to the ocean. Behind him he heard Sora running across the bridge in his usual loud manner. Out of the corner of his eye, Sora jumped on the log and then in front of it. Leaning back, he put his behind his head and stared ahead at the sunset. Smiling Riku looked toward the sun and said "Nothings changed huh?"

"Nope" said Sora "Nothing ever will."

"What a small world"

"But" said Sora "Part of one that is much bigger."

Riku simply answered with a "yeah."

They sat there for a few seconds until Sora turned to Riku and asked "Hey Riku… What do you think it was… the door to the light."

Laughing, Riku jumped off my seat and turned to him with a smirk. He pointed his figure at Sora's chest and tapped it twice saying "This."

Sora looked down, then back up at Riku, and then down again with a confused look on his face. "This" while touching the same spot Riku pointed at.

"Yeah" He answered with a smirk planted firmly on his face " It's always closer than you think." A look of understanding came upon Sora's face and he smiled.

"Sora! Riku!" They both turned to see Kairi running up to them with a bottle in her hand.

She showed the bottle to Sora and he exclaimed "from the king" when he saw the symbol on the scroll. Quickly, he opened the bottle, took out the bottle, and opened the scroll. Riku and Kairi scooted in with the intent to read it when all of sudden they heard Selphie's cries for help coming from the middle of the island near the secret spot.

The first one to react was Kairi, she scrambled over the tree with a look of concern on her face for her friend. Sora and Riku took a quick glance at each other, decided the letter could wait for a later time, and took off after Kairi. When they came into view of the waterfall that hid the secret spot, they were greeted with the sight of heartless swarming out of it. Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka were under attack by the heartless and were putting up a weak resistance due to the heartless relentless attack. Riku summoned his key blade and charged at the group of heartless attacking his friends with Sora right behind me. "Kairi!" Riku yelled over his shoulder "Get to somewhere safe until we clear out all this heartless!" She hesitated, looking at her friends in danger, but decided to listen to Riku's advise. Riku focus was changed back onto the heartless, He dived into the group that was attacking his friends and got lost in the chaos of battle. They cut an opening into the group and Sora told them to run to Kairi. Once they were cleared of any danger, Sora and Riku turned their attention to destroying all the heartless.

Riku weaved between heartless, cutting down one after another. To his right he could hear Sora yelling "Take That!" and "Its Over!" Behind all this he could hear Kairi and the others cheering him on.

'I'm fighting too. Why does everyone only cheer on Sora and only see him?' Riku thought with a frown. Once again he felt the dark pull of jealousy in his heart.

As the battle stretched out, Riku began to worry about how the heartless never seemed to be shrinking in numbers but actually growing. Then, he remember how he saw all the heartless poring out of the secret spot when we first arrived. "Sora!"

"What Riku?"

"We have to get to the secret spot. That's where they are all coming from!"

Sora appeared behind me and said "Right behind you."

Side by side, they cut are way towards the entrance of the secret spot. As they got closer, they noticed that the heartless were definitely getting stronger. They were no longer fighting shadows but their evolved forms, Neoshadows. They slowed down considerably when they entered the secret spot. Neoshadows were bunched together and the small entrance did nothing to help. Finally, Riku and Sora pushed them back into the main area, and were able see a huge dark key hole with black tendrils of darkness moving around it.

They could see shadows dripping out of the keyhole in a huge mass of black ooze. "Sora! We got to seal that passage or our home will be overwhelmed by the heartless!"

Sora raised his key blade and pointed at the keyhole and light began to gather around him. "On it Riku."

,The heartless swarmed toward Sora to stop him from sealing the keyhole. Jumping in front of Sora, Riku raised his key blade and called on his dark shield to protect them from the heartless. The rolling wave of blackness smashed against his shield with enough force to send him skidding back. "Sora! Hurry up! I can't hold them off for long!"

Sensing Riku's urgency, Sora pointed his key blade at the keyhole and shot a beam of light at it. The keyhole flashed brightly as the beam hit it and they heard a sound like a door being locked. Riku sighed, 'good its finally over, now all we need to do is finish off the remaining heartless.'

"Uh, Riku" He turned towards Sora "yeah?"

Sora looked at Riku with a concerned look on his face "something's wrong with the heartless." Riku looked around to see what he was talking. All the Heartless were just standing there, looking at the keyhole in a trancelike state. Suddenly, they heard a ripping sound and turned to see the black substance around the keyhole split off from it as the keyhole disappeared. The dark orb floated above them and it began to absorb all the heartless in the area. Riku stabbed his key blade into the ground to stop himself from being pulled into the orb along with the heartless. The last of the heartless was absorbed and the orb began to pulse. With each pulse it grew bigger and began to form a giant humanoid shape. When it finished forming, a heartless that looked like darkside appeared. It had its general shape but was leaner and seemed to have blades along the back of its arm and hands. It looked like a giant neodarkside was born from the combination of all the other neoshadows.

The heartless flashed toward Sora and Riku and swung its bladed arm intent on cutting them in half. They rolled under its arm and its blades striking against the wall behind them. They turned to see one of its arms stuck in the wall. Riku turned to Sora "Sora! Be careful its much stronger than the other heartless." Sora got into a battle stance " I know that Riku, but no worries, I bet I can take it."

'There he goes again, always smiling and talking about how he can do everything.' Riku frowned at Sora " Don't forgot that I'm here too, you know." Sora laughed "Of course I know you're here Riku. Together there is nothing we can't defeat. This will be just like when we fought Xemnas." Sora turned back toward the heartless with a light heart. 'That's right. Riku is here fighting beside me. There is no way we can lose!' Riku stared at Sora happy face for a second with an unreadable expression. Silently, he turned his attention back on the heartless and got ready to fight.

The Heartless finally freed its arm from the wall and turned toward the key wielders. The key wielders sprinted toward the heartless weaving back and forth. The Heartless slashed its arms down in a attempt to cut them in half. The key wielders side stepped the attack and jump on separate arms. They used them as a springboard to deal a crushing double key blade blow to Neodarkside's head. It flew back and smashed into the wall and laid there momentarily stunned.

"Now" yelled Sora " lets finish it off before it gets back up." They quickly ran toward the heartless, swords drawn and aiming for a killing blow. The heartless surprised them when it spun like a top and struck out at the key wielders. Sora was barely able to draw in his attack and raise his key blade up to deflect the blow, but he was sent flying across the cave and smashed into the wall. Riku was less quick and received a glancing blow to his shoulder that sent him spinning away into the wall with a sickening crunch.

"Riku" yelled Sora as he stood up and looked to see if he was okay. When the dust cleared, it revealed Riku standing up as his left hand hung lifelessly with blood flowing down it. "I'm alright Sora" said Riku. Seeing the blood Sora began to panic " Okay! Riku you bleeding badly and it looks like your arm was broken!" Riku laughed and said " I've had worse and beside you should be focusing on our opponent right now." Sora stilled looked unconvinced but was unable to say anymore as the heartless suddenly roared. It smashed its arms into the ground and dark puddles began to form. Neoshadows began to rise out of the puddles as they grew.

Sora quickly chunked his key blade at the the giant heartless and struck it in the chest. The blow caused it to fall backwards causing the black puddles to dissipate. Sora recalled his key blade and blocked an incoming attack from the neoshadows that were just spawned. Riku was struggling against his opponents as the pain and blood lost slowly sapped his strength. Sora battle his way to Riku's side and casted curaga on his arm but nothing happened. "Why won't it work!" yelled Sora.

Riku grimaced " I don't know, but it seems like the wounds it causes are immune to light spells."

While Sora was trying to heal Riku, the giant heartless had regained its footing and bulldozed toward them destroying everything in its mad dash. Sora pushed Riku out of the way and then rolled in the opposite direction to avoid getting smashed. Neodarkside collided with the wall headfirst and ricochet off it. "Sora" yelled Riku " Our only chance to win is if you can a clean shot at it while its stunned."

"But how" asked Sora, "Its to fast"

" I got a plan just trust me. Run straight at it and aim directly for its head."

Sora silently looked at Riku for a moment then shook his head. "Alright"

Sora turned toward the heartless, raised his key blade, and charged straight at him full speed. The heartless roared at Sora and raised its fist to bring it crashing down right on top of Sora. Riku had summoned his dark shield to deflect the attack at the last moment and then used the last of his strength to throw his key blade hurling at the heartless. Sora felt the vibration of the fist striking the shield inches above his head and the air of Riku's key blade flying by his head, missing him by only a few inches. The blade struck the heartless in the legs causing the heartless to fall forward toward the upward slash of Sora's key blade. With a sickening sound, Neodarkside's upper body was split in half. The body began twitch uncontrollably and started to fade. When the last of the heartless disappeared, Sora yelled "We did it!" and turned toward Riku to celebrate.

Riku couldn't hold on anymore, the last thing he saw before it all went black was Sora celebrating and him turning towards him with a smile on his face.

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**Author Notes: Well this was my first chapter ever. Surprised it actually broke 2000 words. There will be more to come. I mean the way kingdom hearts 2 ended was just to perfect of an opportunity to miss out on creating a story from it.**

**If you find anything weird in the story please tell me, I have recently edited chapters 1 and 2 and may have missed something.**

**Anyways…. Please review!**


	2. Darkness, Nightmare, and Mission

Unknown voice: "Boo!"

Thoughts: 'Hello! (echo)'

Dialogue "Hello!"

Sound affect: **Boom**

Reading: _Read This_

_Re-Edited_

**Story Notice: This story was originally about Sora, but due to a sudden inspirational idea, I have changed it to Riku.**

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**Darkness, Nightmare, and Mission**

**Darkness**

"Darkness?"

"(Laughter), I can't believe how badly you got your ass kicked by that weak heartless. The real Riku would have never have been so pathetic."

"What do you mean the real me?"

"Have you already forgotten about your true self, the dark you? Remember how you could control all those heartless with a single word. Now look at you, having to be saved by you friend from a pathetic heartless"

"I'm no longer part of the darkness! I'm not weak and there is nothing wrong with relying on my friends!"

"Do you really believe that Riku?"

"Yes!"

"So from now on you will rely on Sora to do everything? Will you always be so weak that you have to be saved by him every time you fight!"

"That's not what I meant! Together will fight and defeat our enemies. I'll finally be able to fight along side Sora, Kairi, and the others. I know that I made the right choice in leaving the darkness! There is no way I will return"

"That's where you're wrong Riku. You know as well as I do that you have never completely left the darkness. You can't because that's all you have ever known. Do you really think your so called friends will fight beside you when they know this?"

"Shut up! You don't know anything about me! Sora said that I no longer belong in the darkness! I won't let some voice decide what side I fight on."

"Riku…. You know as well as I do that I am not a simple voice. No I am must more important to you than that"

Riku's head began to hurt and he began to see a blurry white light engulf the darkness "What do you mean!"

(Laughter) " You will find out soon enough but by then…"

Everything started to fade as Riku struggled to hear what he would say. Finally, he gave up to the feeling and everything went white.

"your heart will be mine."

**?**

Riku's eyes opened up to the view of a white ceiling above him. 'Where am I?' He sat up and noticed that his body felt strange. He looked down to see that he was no longer his body. 'No it can't be!'

Riku jumped from his bed and ran into the bathroom. He leaned against the sink with the top of his head against the bathroom mirror. Slowly he raised his eyes to see if what he saw and felt was true. "No!" Screamed Riku as he slammed his fist against the mirror.

He clawed at his face while repeatedly screaming "No! No! NOO!" He ran out of the bathroom and into the infirmary. Every where he looked he saw his face. He ran out of the infirmary and through the halls. No matter where he looked, all he saw was the same image in the mirror. The face of Xehanort and his cold heartless eyes stared back.

**Infirmary- Disney Castle**

Riku woke up screaming and thrashing as the nightmare became to much for him to take.

"Oh my God Mister Rikku are you okay! Whats Wrong! MOOO! Whats happening!"

Riku snapped out of it when he heard the strange voice calling his name. He turned toward the voice and saw a cow who looked frightened and worried. 'So it was a nightmare…. Thank goodness.'

Riku turned to her "Sorry to worry you, I was having a really horrible dream."

Looking relieved, She smiled at him "That's relief, now sit on the bed so I can examine you and see if you haven't injured yourself."

Doing as she asked, Riku turned toward the bed but stopped when he felt a breeze hit his

backside. He looked down to see that he was wearing one of those hospital gowns. He

lunged toward the bed and sat down to hide his exposed backside. 'Where did my clothes go?' He thought with embarrassment.

Oblivious to his discomfort, she began her examination.

"So, miss?" She smiled at Riku and said "my name is Clarabelle" Nodding his head, he continued "Clarabelle where am I, how did I get here, and where are my clothes?"

She answered him without stopping her work "You are at Disney Castle, your friend Sora brought you in here three days ago, and we had to repair and wash your clothes from the fight."

"Three days! I have been asleep that long?" She nodded, "Yes you have, the wound you had was resistant to light spells and it took our healers hours to save your life. Sadly, they could do no more than that and had to let it heal the rest of the way naturally." Turning away from him she said "Anyways, it seems you are all healed up now, but don't strain yourself because you shoulder might still be a little sore."

Nodding to show that he understood, Riku turned to her with a hopeful expression on his face. "Can I have my clothes back now Clarabelle. Its kind of uncomfortable not wearing anything but this."

Laughing at his expression, she starting walking towards the door "They should be hanging up in the closet to your left. You should take a shower first before you change. The bathroom is through that door on your right. Once your done please head to the throne room. King Mickey and your friends are all in there talking about the current heartless crisis."

Once she left, Riku got up and opened the closet to find his clothes neatly folded and looking brand new. 'Wow, they really go all out here.' He grabbed his clothes and walked into the bathroom. He began to get undressed but stopped when something caught his eye in the mirror. He walked toward the mirror and saw what it was. Along the left of his chest and across his shoulder was a long white scar. Riku traced it with his finger 'Am I really so weak?'

**20 Minutes later**

**Disney Castle- Throne Room**

**POV - Normal**

A group stood in the middle of the throne room discussing the current heartless outbreak.

"It doesn't make any sense your majesty" said Sora "How did the heartless attack my world. I sealed the keyhole already."

"I don't know" said a troubled Mickey, "Somehow some of the passages of darkness have re-opened throughout a few of the worlds."

"So what can we do about it" asked Sora.

" I guess we are going to have re-close them again" said Mickey.

"What!" yelled Sora, "It took me forever just to close all the keyholes on the worlds I know!"

"Don't worry Sora" Goofy said, "Me and Donald will help you."

"Yeah," said Donald "We already know where the keyholes are. We'll be done in no time."

"There right Sora"

Sora twirled around to see Riku walking towards them. "Riku!" he yelled happily "You are finally up."

Kairi who had been silent till now, looked worriedly at Riku. " Are you feeling okay Riku."

'No, if you only knew the truth about what is happening to me. However, if you did find out, what would you do? Ignoring these thoughts, Riku smiled at them " Yeah, I'm all better now, so you don't have to worry about me."

Sora laughed " That's good hear, was kind of worried that you would lose your nerve after getting your ass kicked."

Riku faked a smirk while ignoring the dark feelings that surfaced in his heart at Sora's jab at his bravery. "Yeah right, like I could ever lose in a fight. It was me after all who protected your ass and came up with the plan."

Sora pouted "Yeah, but it was me who had the finishing blow and I had to carrier you fat ass to the infirmary."

"That reminds me Sora" Riku said "How did we get here?"

"Oh, it was King Mickey's idea. When you were unconscious, I read the letter and found out that the heartless were appearing on all the worlds again. He sent a gummy ship to pick us up and I brought you along so that the king's healers could heal you." Sora turned to the Mickey " Now he wants me to travel to all the worlds that have been opened again and seal them. Luckily, there are not that many but it will take awhile since I have to see them all by myself."

"You're not alone Sora." said Riku "Me, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey will all be helping you."

"Don't forget about me. I don't want to have to leave you guys when I just found you." Said Kairi.

"Kairi" Begin Sora "I can't let you do tha-"

"I won't take no for an answer!" Kairi said. "I'm coming with you Sora, rather you like it or not." She finished with a glare daring Sora to argue.

Sighing, Sora said "Fine Kairi but if it gets to dangerous I'm sending you back here or to Merlins. Agreed?"

"Thank you Sora!" Kairi said as she gave him a hug.

Sora blushed with embarrassment " N-no p-problem."

Riku laughed " Looks like you to are getting kind of cozy there. Do we need to leave the room?"

Breaking apart both Kairi and Sora turned to Riku with red faces. "S-shut up Riku." He continued to laugh as their faces got even redder. "Its not funny Riku."

"Now Sora settle down." said Mickey " Riku was only teasing."

Sora grumbled but agreed. "Now" said Mickey " with Riku here we have three key wielders. I suggest that we split the worlds between us to make it easier to seal all the keyholes again."

"Wouldn't that make it harder for us though." Sora said, "We would be separated and unable help one another. Plus, Riku just recovered from his injury. We shouldn't push him to much."

"Its okay Sora" Riku said. 'I'm not weak. I'll show you guys and that voice how strong I can be without darkness.'

"But" started Sora

Riku continued on ignoring Sora's interruption "We have to do this Sora. The longer it take us to seal the keyholes, the more lives and worlds that are lost."

"I know" Sora said "But what if something happens to you."

"Don't worry Sora." said Riku with a smirk "I'm more worried about something happening to you. I can handle myself."

"Hey!" said Sora " I can take care of myself!"

"Yeah," agreed Donald and Goofy "and we will be there to help him!"

"Don't forget me" said Kairi "If any of you get hurt I can heal you. I've been practicing my light spells."

"Then its settled" said Mickey " Here are the worlds are have assigned each of you." Mickey handed a letter to Sora then Riku.

"Lets do this" said Sora while holding out his hand "Lets defeat heartless, save the world, and all return together."

"Yeah" shouted everyone as they put their hands on top of Sora's

"Lets promise to all make it back." Said Kairi

"Yeah, we will all meet each other again" said Sora " and when that happens, lets throw a celebration party and invite everyone."

"Yeah!" yelled everyone as they raised their hands in the air.

**Next Day**

**Disney Castle-Hangar**

'Can't believe I slept in late.' Riku walked over to Chip and Dale. "Hey guys, did everyone already leave?"

Chip, or was it Dale, turned toward Riku "Yes, they wanted to wish you luck but you slept in late. They told us to give you a message instead."

Interested Riku looked at him "So what's the message?"

"Right" Dale, or was it Chip, said "Riku good luck on your journey. Bet you I'll finish before you do! That's all the message says. Now if you want to leave your ship is in the third hangar."

'Same old Sora' he thought while laughing. He walked toward the hangar that contained his ship. He entered and everything was dark. 'I wonder if that voice is going to pop out of nowhere and start talking.' Nothing happened as the lights turned on and Riku shrugged his shoulder and started walking toward his ship and stopped to see the name written on the side. _The Breaking Dawn_. 'What an interesting name."

Riku climbed aboard and prepared to take off. Chip and Dale appeared on his screen and gave him the okay. Igniting the thrusters, he streaked out of the hangar. Riku was excited about driving the gummy ship. 'This would be the first time I have flown on a gummy ship, much less pilot one.' He quickly became bored and grabbed the letter that Mickey had given him. He opened it to see three names of different worlds written down. 'Hmmm, the first world I am to go to is…'

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**Author's notes: Well here it is my second chapter and I re-edited since I disliked the previous dialogue Riku had with the Darkness. Also changed the dream. Renamed his ship after much consideration. As for the mysterious voice... Riku will hear from him again in the future and may even find out who he is.**

**Review!**


	3. Dark Reflection and Arrival

**Author's Notes: I changed the name of the ship to the Breaking Dawn. **

**I've also decided that I would start writing more in a 3****rd**** person view. If you don't like the change tell me and I'll change it back to 1****st**** person. **

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**Dark Reflection and Arrival**

**Breaking Dawn**

**Normal Pov**

'Spira?' That was the name the first planet on his trip to seal the dark keyholes. 'I've never heard of this world before and I know Sora has never been there either.'

Riku briefly wondered what awaited on this planet he have never been to before. 'Would it be like other worlds I have visited or completely different? Would I be able to find the keyhole on a world I have never been to? Can I accomplish this task alone? Why am I always alone?' This last thought made him halt everything he was doing.

He turned to the window to look out into space. "Why am I always alone?" He questioned to the empty space outside his window. "Ever since I was little I've always dreamed about what could be beyond those islands. Now that I know, all I can think about is why? Why does it seem that every choice I make ends with me being alone in the dark?" He continued to stare out window as if the darkness outside would answer his questions.

He turned away from the window with a hollow laugh. Here he was by himself questioning the darkness about why he was always alone. It would be funny if it wasn't so ironic. 'Sora is probably having fun with Donald, Goofy, and Kairi.'

Riku's heart gave a dark pull when the thought passed through his mind. 'Why does Sora always get to be in the light and never alone!' His hands clenched into tight fists. 'Yet, I am always alone.' Riku's heart pulsed as darkness began to swirl around him. 'Its not fai-'

**Beep, Beep, Beep**

The darkness dissipated as Riku's attention was diverted towards the monitor. Apparently, he had arrived at his destination. He looked at the planet that was shown on the screen. It seemed to have an ocean with small islands scattered here and there with the mainland situated to the left of them. This was not good, how was he suppose to find the keyhole on a world that he never been to and has so many islands to explore.

Suddenly, the sensors on the ship began to come to life. The monitor flashed and began to zoom in on a certain part of the world with words flashing on the bottom. Riku leaned toward the screen to see what was happening. It looked like a giant port city with a large stadium in the middle of it. As he continued to stare, he noticed that the streets were crowded by heartless and seemed to be pouring from a dark orb in the middle of the stadium. He looked toward the bottom of the screen to see the flashing words _Heartless Detected _

'Well that was easier than I thought' Riku turned his attention back to the city filled with heartless. ' Now the hard part is getting into that city and sealing the keyhole.' As he continued to stare, he realized something. 'Where are all the people?' He quickly began to scan other areas to see if he could find any spot where people were gathering. His sensor picked up a large gathering of people at a cliff north of the city and beyond a long road.

'Guess that's the safest place to land this thing. Although, I should make sure no one sees me fly this. They might start asking questions about why I am there in the first place.' Riku disengaged the auto pilot and dropped the ship into orbit.

He landed on a ledge that was hidden from view of the inhabitants below him.

Riku decided to wait till dawn before he entered the town so he wouldn't create any suspicion. He slide down the side of the ledge and landed on the outskirts of the town. He walked towards the gate in what he hoped was a friendly manor.

An old looking guard stepped up to him and said "Stop, what is your business here."

Riku smiled at him and said "I was hoping you guys could give me some information on what is going on here."

The guard looked confused " Heartless? Is that was those things are called?"

Riku simply shook his head "Yes, that's what they are called. Now can you get me someone that can help me around this place.

The guard considered it for a moment. "Listen here stranger"

Riku cut him off "My name is Riku"

The guard simply scoffed " I don't care what your name is. You will wait here as I get the commander."

Riku considered his options for a second. On one hand he could easily enter this place with a simple fight, but that would cause the inhabitants to be hostile against him. He could also simply turn around and leave. He could try and deal with the heartless alone, but the image of the city appeared in his mind. Well that leaves option three, wait here like he was told and be interrogated. Riku sighed, "Okay, I'll wait." He sat down as the guard turned and walked toward a tall building in the center of the town.

'What is taking so long' Riku shifted on his feet as he leaned against the gate. 'It shouldn't take a hour to find somebody in charge around here.' Finally, they door opened to reveal a group of soldiers walking toward him. 'Great' thought Riku with a grimace. Just what I need, more guards.

They stopped in front of him "Stranger, the commanders will now see you. Follow us."

"My name is Riku"

The guards simply ignored his correction and turned around. " This way stranger" He began to walk towards the building they had previously come from. Riku sighed but followed after the guard while the others fell into step behind him.

'Great I feel like a criminal now. All these guards around me and people staring at me. Can't really blame them, I am being escorted by a group of guards." Riku's musing halted when he arrived at the door of the building. He followed the guard in and up a staircase that spun around a column. 'Why can't there ever be a normal staircase anymore'

He was lead to a huge room that had a huge table with many chairs around it. At the head of the table sat three figures surrounded by group of soldiers, civilians, and people that had weird eyes and tattoos on their bodies.

The group stopped and stared at Riku as he was led in front of them. A guy with gravity defying gray hair looked at him "Is this the stranger your were talking about."

The guards bowed " Yes lord Baralai, this is the person who seems to know what those creatures are."

Riku growled "For the last time, my name is Riku!" Everything went quiet after Riku's outburst.

The guy to the left of Baralai began to laugh "So your names Riku , huh, sorry about that. My names Gippal, this person to my right is Baralai, and the old man on the end is Nooj."

Nooj grimaced at the old man comment but ignored it as he turned to Riku "Now that we know each others names. I think its time you tell us all about those creatures that have appeared in Luca."

Everyone on the room instantly focused on Riku as they waited to hear what he would say.

"Well" sighed Riku "To began with, those creatures are called heartless. They are born from the darkness in one's heart…."

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**Author endnotes: Hope you like the new chapter and the new POV i am using.**

**Review please.**


	4. Proof, Plan, and Tears?

**Author notes: **

**Changed the name of story to Heart of Darkness**

**I might be starting another story but I have no solid idea on what to name it yet. **

**So Updates may go slower than usual.**

**In this story, Riku does not understand Al Bhed or will he ever. He really can't learn the entire language in like 1-2 days.**

**Riku's darker half is also starting to re-emerg in this chapter.**

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**Proof, Plan, and Tears?**

**Meeting Room**

**Normal Pov**

"Finally, I landed on this planet and asked the guards to see you. The rest you know." Riku finished his explanation and studied the group before him. Some of the audience seemed confused, others had a look of disbelief, and some with an look of outrage. Riku grimaced 'well this can't be good.'

Nooj confirmed that idea when he voiced his thoughts. "So you want us to believe you are from another world? That you flew here on a spaceship to battle those so called heartless. With a key that only a select few can wield?'

Riku tried to look confident as he answered. "Yes, All that I told you is the truth."

Baralai ran his hand through his hair with a sigh "Riku, we can't just accept what you said as the truth. Many people depend on us to protect them from this threat. For all we know, you could be trying to lead us to our deaths."

"Yeah" Gippal cut in "We have never heard of a machina that can travel between worlds before. If you want us to believe, you have to show us proof that what you say is true." Behind him, the group agreed with him with shouts of "Show us proof?" and some yelled in a weird language Riku couldn't understand.

'I guess I will have to show them my key blade and ship. I wasn't planning on telling them everything, but it seems I have no choice' With his decision made, Riku looked up with a determined gleam in his eye. "I need you to bring me different things that are locked, a person who is willing to assist me, and at the end I'll show you my ship."

Baralai turned to the group behind him "Go and find something that is locked. Anything you can bring will be fine." The group split up to find something that Riku could use.

Baralai walked around the table and toward Riku "As for the assistant, I will be the one helping since I want to see this up close."

Riku nodded "That's fine with me, in fact, it will probably help since people are more likely to believe you than others."

Fifteen minutes later, there was a locked chest, safe, and a locket sitting in front of Riku. Riku let Baralai check to make sure if every item was locked. After Baralai was done, Riku summoned his key blade. The sudden appearance of the Key startled the group standing in front of him.

"Well, as you can see, here is the key that I told you I use to fight the heartless. Now I will use it to unlock these objects before me." Riku tapped the chest, safe, and locket in a quick manner.

**Click, Click, Click**

Three loud sounds of the locks being unlocked was heard. Riku stepped forward and opened each object to show that they were indeed unlocked. The crowd was silent throughout this entire process. They started to whisper to each other when Riku turned away from the objects. He could barely hear snippets of the conversations. "He has to be using some trick!" or "He must be deceiving us" were the main things he could hear.

Riku ignored their conversations and walked over to Baralai. He held out his key blade to him "Here, take my key blade and try to use it." Baralai cautiously took the blade from Riku's hand and stepped back with it. He turned toward the chest and raised the key blade above his head. He swung it in downwards arc intending to cut the chest in half and stumbled when he felt no resistance. He looked at his hands to see that the key blade was no longer there. Confused Baralai looked towards Riku and saw that the blade is now in his hands.

Riku couldn't stop a smug grin from appearing on his face. "Now that I proven my first two points, the only thing left now is to show you my ship." Riku turned from the stunned group and walked towards the exist. Behind him he could hear the group running to catch up with him as he left the building and headed for the cliff.

He led them up the secret path he had found and stopped when his ship came into view. Riku pointed at it "Is that enough proof for you?" Stunned silence was the only answer he received as the group took in the sight before them.

Gippal was the first to recover "So this machina can travel between worlds! This machina would be a great help to recovering our lost technology!" Riku was unable to understand the rest of the conversation as Gippal turned toward the tattoo people who spoke the language Riku could not understand.

Riku turned toward Baralai and Nooj "What does he mean that my ship will help them? Who are they and why do they speak a different language than you."

"My apologies" said Nooj "Those people are the Al Bhed and they are a people whose focus is on machina. They are continuously trying to regain the lost knowledge of the machina we used to have on this world."

Riku look worriedly at the group "They are not going to mess with my ship are they. That's my only transportation from this world to others."

"No" answered Baralai " They will not mess with your ship."

"What?" Gippal shouted " There is no way we can't examine that ship. So many things can be learned from it."

Nooj shook is head "Baralai is right Gippal. We can not afford to cause any him any trouble if we want those heartless to be gone from our world and others."

"But" whined Gippal

"No!" Baralai and Nooj said at the same time.

Riku couldn't help but smile at the trio in front of him. They reminded him of Sora, Donald, and Goofy when they fought. This brought him back to his earlier thoughts onboard the ship. His mood instantly soured and his heart was once again glimmering with a evil aura.

"So what must we do?" Riku was suddenly pulled from his dark world and looked toward the speaker. "Uh what did you say?"

Nooj sighed but repeated what he said "Now that we know you are telling the truth. What should we do about the heartless?"

"Before you answer though we should head back to the meeting room for a more appropriate place to discuss things." Said Baralai.

Riku merely shook is head in agreement and began to follow them back to the building. 'What was that feeling I had a second ago. It was dark and familiar, but I thought I was no longer part of the dark."

**Meeting Room**

**Normal Pov**

Riku's thoughts were quickly brought away from what happened at the cliff when the meeting about how to best close the keyhole began.

"What are all the ways we can reach the stadium?" asked Riku.

Nooj pointed at a part of the map of Luca on the table " You can enter here but must come from the direction of the highroad. This means we would have to travel on foot to the city and then fight through the streets before entering the stadium."

Riku shook his head " That way is to difficult. I am the only one here with experience against heartless and the losses would be to great with a low chance of success."

"I agree" Baralai pointed towards a different part of the map " We would have a better chance if we came from the sea. The stadium is much closer and we would have less of a distance to fight through."

Nooj frowned at Baralai "You forgot that the heartless are swarming all over the ports. Some have even been able to steer the ships and are now using them as weapons."

Riku sighed " So the only two ways to get into the stadium are both littered with Heartless and a strong possibility of death."

"There is another way." Said Gippal who had been quiet the entire time. " We could use an airship we dug up to transport a small group to the stadium."

Riku turned to Gippal "Why didn't you say this sooner. That ideas is a lot better than the others and removes much of the problem of the heartless."

Gippal glared at Riku "Did you not here what I said? I said only a small group could get into the stadium that way. It would be suicide for anyone who went."

"How small of a group are we talking about" asked Riku

Gippal grimaced " Only about four people would be able to go."

Baralai rested his head against the table in defeat "That number is to small. Any group we send in there will be overwhelmed by the heartless in matter of minutes or even seconds. It seems we will have to choose one of the other suggestions and hope that the losses we obtain will be smaller than we predict."

"No" said Riku "We will go with Gippal's plan."

Baralai looked up at Riku with disbelief "That would be suicide to anyone we send in there."

Riku shook his head " No, if we go with this plan, me and a few others would be able to land near the keyhole. If I can close the passage, then the heartless should greatly decrease."

Nooj looked at Riku "Are you sure you want to go with this plan. There is no turning back when you are in there. Make one mistake and you will die."

Riku smiled confidently at Nooj "Don't worry about me. I'll make sure to close that keyhole and live to brag about it to my friends."

"Then its settled" said Gippal "We will call together all the soldiers, summoners, and volunteers to make the announcement. We need three other people to agree to come with you to give you the best chance at success. Lets go to the balcony to announce are plans."

**Balcony facing training area**

**Normal Pov**

"Soldiers of Spira, we have gathered you here to ask of you an important mission." Announced Nooj. "We need three volunteers to accompany Riku to the stadium in Luca to close the gate that is letting in those creatures we are fighting. Those of you who are willing to sacrifice your life and most likely your hearts, please step forward and announce yourself."

Nobody stepped forward, then on the edge of the field a person stepped forward. It was a girl of around eighteen years old. She wore a black dress with the slits down the side of her arms and around her neck. The bottom of the dress was made from many intertwined black belts. She carried a strange Moogle Doll in her right hand. Her hair was black and reached down to her lower back. "I Lulu, of the black magic branch, will volunteer to join this mission."

Nooj acknowledged her and looked back towards the others waiting for another to step up.

Next one to move forward was a huge blue furring being. He had a broken horn on his head and carried a lance(?). "Kimahri accepts this mission."

Nooj acknowledged that he stepped forward and waited for the last person to come.

No one moved after those two. Minutes passed and there was no signs of anyone else coming.

"Ahhh to hell with this!" said Gippel "I'm coming along to Riku."

Startled Riku turned to him "Are you sure about this Gippel? You might die or lose your heart to the heartless."

He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture "I'm not worried."

Baralai dismissed the soldiers and turned to Riku. "Your mission start tomorrow morning. I suggest you get to know your team a little and then get some sleep."

Riku was already on his way down to the training area with Gippal right behind him. " I'm already on my way!"

**Training Area**

**Normal Pov**

Lulu and Kimahri quietly stood beside each other as they watch Riku and Gippal make their way across the training area. Neither shared their thoughts on what they thought about the mission.

Riku and Gippel crushed the silence when they screeched to a stop in front of them breathing heavily.

"Did you really have to run here?" Asked Lulu as she watched them catch their breath.

"I guess not " laughed Gippel " It just seemed like you guys were waiting for us so we decided to hurry."

Lulu merely sighed and shook her head. 'why did I even agree to this mission?'

Riku noticed Lulu's annoyance and decided to change the subject. "We haven't met properly yet. My names Riku and your guys names are?"

Lulu answered with a annoyed "My name is Lulu. At least remember it after I said it five minutes ago."

Kimahri merely said "Kimahri"

'Great' thought Riku 'So this is the group I am likely to die with tomorrow.'

Gippal could sense Riku's souring mood and tried to brighten up the conversation " So guys what made you want to accept this mission?"

Lulu instantly stiffened and gave Gippel a death glare "My reasons are for me to know only and not for you to pry into." With that Lulu turned and marched off angrily.

Gippal merely looked at Riku in confusion as he watched her march off. Riku could only shrug his shoulders at her behavior and turned toward Kimahri to hear his answer.

Kimahri stared at them for a moment and turned away from them and began to walk away.

"Well" said Gippal "Looks like we got a strange group.

Riku could only shake his head in agreement

Gippal turned toward Riku with a smile "Don't sweat it man. We should get to bed to make sure we are fully rested for the mission tomorrow."

"Yeah, your right Gippal." Riku started walking toward his ship "I guess I'll spend the night in my ship since it looks like you already full with refugees."

Gippal embarrassedly rub the back of his head "Yeah, Guess you can tell huh. Anyways makes sure you up early so I don't have to wake your lazy but up."

"Whatever" Riku said as he walked off.

On the way back to his ship, Riku noticed Lulu standing in front of a blue sword. He watched her for a second until she noticed him. She hurriedly turned her head and walked away. Riku merely shrugged his shoulders and continued his walk to his ship. Suddenly an image of Lulu face appeared in his mind. He stopped and stared towards the direction Lulu walked off to.

'Was Lulu crying?'

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**Authors notes: **

**I shaved about 4 years off of Lulu. I thought since they made every other final fantasy character way younger, so could I.**

**REVIEW!**


	5. Extreme Blitzball

**Author notes: This was a huge update! Longest chapter I have ever written.**

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**Extreme Blitsball**

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'Darkness?…. Looks like I'm back.' Riku looked around. "Hello! Anyone there?" The only answered he received was silence. 'Looks like the guy from before isn't here.'

'…. How long am I going to float here?' Riku once again tried to find anything at in the darkness. 'What's that?' He turned toward a part of the darkness that caught his eye. A simmering pool of blackness seemed to be swirling around a platform. He drifted closer to get a better look.

"Glad to see you here Riku?" Riku stopped in surprise and looked around to find the person who spoke. "You won't find me… it is not yet time to meet each other."

"What do you mean by this isn't the time and where am I at?"

"You will see soon enough. I'm glad that you were able to find me early than expected. (laughs) I guess you heart really yearns for the darkness my other self."

The Darkness and Platform began to fade away into whiteness. "Wait!" Riku screamed "What do you mean my heart yearns for darkness! Why did you call me your other self!"

Riku received no answer as he was swept away into the white light.

**Breaking Dawn**

"Wait!" Riku woke up screaming with his hand raised outwards as if to grasp something. He lowered his hand and fell back into the bed.

'Who was that? What's going on?' Riku's frowned as he sat back up and looked at the clock. The clock was showing 3:30 a.m 'Great I woke up two half hours early than I needed to. I didn't need to wake up till six since the mission starts at seven.'

Riku laid back down and turned away from the clock to go back to sleep. He laid there tossing and turning and finally gave up as he threw the covers off and stood up. 'Its impossible for me to go back to sleep after what happened.'

He dressed and began to walk towards the kitchen. 'Maybe a good breakfast will help.'

**Time 4:00 A.M- On top of Breaking Dawn**

Riku sat on top of his ship staring up at the stars. Beside him was an empty cup and a plate with the remains of his breakfast. He sighed as he looked away from the stars 'It is no use. I can't get what that voice said out of my head….. Do I really crave the darkness? Is my heart really so set on it?'

Riku shook his head with anger 'No! I wont listen to what he said. No one knows me better than myself. But… the voice did say I was his other self. What did he mean by that?'

He curled up into a ball with his knees up against his chest and his head laying on them. 'This wasn't suppose to happen. I shouldn't be having to worry about the darkness!.…..I was supposed to be free.'

Out across the ocean, the sun began to rise on the horizon. The rays hit the water and bounced off causing the water to sparkle and different colors of light to show. The sun rose higher and caused more and more of the ocean to sparkle until it was a giant glowing sea of bright colors.

Sadly, the person curled up in agony was beyond enjoying this rare sight. His heart, soul, and mind were already falling into darkness.

**Time: 6:40 A.M With Gippal, Lulu and Kimahri at airship**

"Where could he be?" Gippal looked towards the cliff with worry "What could be taking Riku so long. You don't think something happened to him?"

"Maybe he was lying to us about how he could defeat the heartless." said Lulu "He could have ran off in fear when he realized what would happen to him when we realize this."

Gippal turned toward Lulu " No way, I saw how he summoned his blade and how it worked. There was no way he was lying to us."

Lulu simply shook her head with a disappointed look on her face "So he shows you a little magic and now you are going to believe everything he says?"

"You know, you shouldn't be so harsh on everyone." Gippal turned toward Kimahri "Right big guy."

Kimahri simply stared at Gippal then turned his head away without saying a word.

"Hey, don't tell me you agree with her!" Gippal turned away with a sigh "Great, I'm might be spending my last moments with a silent fur ball and a cold hearted woman."

Suddenly Riku skidded to a stop in front of them. "Sorry guys time got away from."

Lulu stared at Riku with a cold look "What took you so long?"

Riku plastered a faked smile on his face "My alarm clock doesn't seem to be working right. I almost slept through the mission."

Lulu didn't look convinced but was unable to continue her questioning when Gippal slung his arm around Riku Shoulders. "That's great! I thought that the heartless had gotten you or something. Lulu here thought you ran away but I knew you wouldn't."

After hearing that last part, Riku turned to Lulu with a eyebrow quirked up in a silent question. Lulu simply crossed arms and leaned back against the airship. "I don't care what the others may say about you. I know nothing about you and why you do this. I'll trust you when I see for myself whether you told the truth or not."

Riku simply shrugged at what she said " Sounds fair to me."

Kimahri ended further discussion when he began to walk into the airship and said "Mission."

Gippal slapped his forehead "Oh yeah, nearly forgot about that." He turned around and picked up a large gun looking thing. "Can't forgot about my gun." he said to Riku with a smirk.

**Airship- Headed for city**

Riku stood in the hallway looking out the window. 'So this is what the airships our like on this world.' He listened to the creaking of the metal and the loud roar of the engines. He sighed 'Not very quite… this nothing like the gummy ships.'

As Riku thought about this, the door down the hall opened to reveal Gippal leaving the cockpit. He saw Riku standing in front of the window with a spaced out look on his face. An evil smiled appeared on his face and he began to creep up behind Riku.

Riku was oblivious to the terror that was sneaking up behind him. Slowly hands rose above Riku head and began to close the distance between them. Suddenly, Riku found himself in a headlock. He struggled to get out while Gippal laughed

"Let me go, Gippal!"

"ha-ha, No way, this is your fault for thinking to much before a mission."

Riku struggled for a few more seconds then gave up. He hung limply in Gippal's headlock. "Gippal, how am I not suppose to think? I do have a brain unlock some people."

Gippal tightened his hold and Riku began to wiggle in pain "Alright, alright, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it!"

Finally, Gippal let go of Riku "There, you look a lot more lively now then you did before Riku."

Confused, Riku looked at Gippal. " What do you mean I look more lively?"

Gippal smiled at Riku "Well this morning you seemed a little down. Did something happen yesterday?"

'How can I tell him the truth' Riku stared at Gippal for a moment 'He wouldn't understand how I feel.'

He turned away from him "It's nothing, I'm just a little worried whether we'll be able to accomplish this mission."

Gippal looked relieved "whew, Thought that something bad happened or you were losing your confidence in yourself." He patted Riku on the back "Don't worry dude, We'll finish this mission easily and then we can go back celebrate our success."

'Gippal… Your to trusting.' Riku merely put on his best fake smile "Yea, your right Gippal. This mission will be easy."

They stood in silence as they watched the clouds float by. Riku turned towards Gippal "Hey Gippal, Do you anything about Lulu?"

Gippal looked at Riku with surprise "Nope, sorry. I never really met her till we all volunteered for this mission." Suddenly, Gippal had a sly look on his face. "Why are you asking? Got a thing for cold older women?"

Riku blushed and sputtered "N-n-no tha-that's not why I asked you about her."

Gippal merely smiled "Right, whatever you say lover boy."

Riku blushed even more "I'm telling you that's not it. The reason I asked you was because I saw her crying the other day over someone's grave."

Gippal faced turned serious "Oh, I'm sorry but I don't know anything about her. So, I can't really tell you who it was. It was probably someone important to her, that's all I can tell you really."

Riku sighed and looked out the window. "Dang, I thought you would at least something about it."

Gippal leaned against he wall "Sorry about that, I know its kind of weird to fight by people who you know nothing about. It's just that at the moment it is unavoidable. They are the only people who were brave enough to risk their lives to close the keyhole."

Riku rested his forehead against the cold window. "Yea, I know Gippal. I just hope that they won't run away and leave us to die. It's hard to trust someone when you know nothing about them."

Gippal leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "Your right Riku but all we can do is hope that they stick with us. Hopefully, we will live to see this world free from darkness once more."

Riku and Gippal merely stood in silence as they thought about what was to come.

**Airship- Edge of city**

Riku, Gippal, Lulu, and Kimahri were gathered in the cargo area,

Gippal was outlining what they had to do to complete the mission "Okay guys, when these cargo doors open we should be right above the stadium. Were going to jump down into the stadium. The airship will then give us some cover fire from above to help contain the heartless and give us a chance to seal the keyhole. Any questions."

Riku raised his hand "uh, yea. How are we supposed to jump out of the airplane and survive? We don't got anything to stop our fall with."

Gippal smirked "Glad you pointed that out Riku. You see, were going to jump into a ball."

Lulu looked at Gippal with a look of disbelief "A ball? Gippal are you joking around at such an important moment?"

Gippal laughed " Now this ball is different. It's the giant ball of water that the players play blitz ball in."

"There has to be a better way Gippal. How do you know if it's even there anymore?" said Riku.

Gippal had a pleased look on his face " Oh, its there. I had my people fly by here yesterday and they saw that it was up and running. The only thing different about it is that the water has turned darker than usual."

"Darker?" questioned Lulu "Just what do you mean by darker?"

Gippal rubbed the back his head " Well, you see the water seems to be black instead of blue and there is also reports of something shining in the water."

'something shining in the darkness?' thought Riku as those around him continued to argue. 'That sounds like what the other keyhole was like. Could it be that the keyhole is inside this giant ball of water that Gippal is talking about.'

"I'll do it. I'll jump into it" said Riku as he came to his decision.

The others looked at him in surprise at his sudden declaration.

"Are you sure Riku" asked Lulu "If he is wrong about it being safe, we could all die."

"I'll have to go anyways" said Riku "If what Gippal says is true, then the keyhole is inside that giant orb of water. We'll have to enter it either way, best to enter it directly from the air than fight through the heartless if we land outside of it."

Lulu sighed "I guess we really don't have a choice do we." She glared at Gippal and Riku "If I die, I'm taking you both to hell with me."

Before Gippal and Riku could respond to her threat, the pilot came on over the speakers. He started to shout things in gibberish to Riku and Gippal answered him in the same language. They were talking back and forth for a minute as the rest of the group listened silently.

'I wonder what their saying?' Riku turned to Lulu " Do you know what they are saying?"

Lulu merely shook her head and continued to wait.

Riku turned to kimahri "What about you? Do you understand what they are saying?"

"…." Kimahri stared at Riku silently until he barely shook his head "no."

'uh, okay that was weird. Does he ever say more than one word?" Riku mentally shrugged and turned back to Gippal.

Gippal seemed to finish his talk with the polite and turned towards the group "It looks like we have arrived guys. Get ready to jump!"

The doors of the cargo bay began to open up. As the doors widened, the group saw that below them was the stadium with a dark orb in the middle.

The pilot once again spoke over the intercom to Gippal.

"This is as close as they can get" yelled Gippal over the wind. "We are going to have to jump from here."

Lulu looked at Gippal like he was crazy "Are you serious? We would be falling for at least fifty to one hundred feet before we hit the water!"

Gippal merely shrugged at her "Nothing I can do about it. The pilot can't get any closer than this. Oh and take these." Gippal reached into his pockets and brought out some devices. "These are the air canisters blitz ball players use when they play. It will let us breath in the water. Don't lose them."

He held out his hand and the group took them from him. He reached back into his pocket and grab his. "Alright guys, good luck and don't lose them." Smiling like a fool, Gippal jumped out of the airship screaming.

Kimahri silently jumped out of the plane after Gippal. Lulu looked at Riku with a wry smile "I can't believe I'm doing this. Were all going to die following that fool."

Riku smiled at Lulu "I know" and jumped out of the airship laughing. Right behind him he could hear Lulu screaming and laughing behind him. Farther down below he could see Gippal doing funny figures inn the air to show off. Above him was a blue blur. Kimahri was falling in a relaxed posed with an expressionless face.

'Does he ever show emotion…. Does he even any?' Thought Riku. He twisted around to where he was falling backwards. He looked up to see Lulu and his brain went haywire when he saw her.

Her dress was blowing around wildly as she fell threw the sky. Behind her, her black hair had become undone from its bindings and flutter behind her. Her red-brown eyes were alight with excitement as she careened downwards towards the earth. Her usually stoic face was bright with as her she laughed as she fell. To Riku she looked like a dark angel falling from the sky.

'Beautiful' thought Riku. His dazed state ended when he impacted on the surface of the water back first. Riku wiggled in agony and screamed silently underwater. Riku was unable to focus around him as he struggled to stay awake and not pass out from the pain.

He began to regain his senses as the pain faded to a dull throb along his back. He began to hear dull sounds of fighting around him as his hearing came back. He slowly opened his eyes and saw blurry shapes dancing in his vision. The blurred shapes quickly came into focus and he was able to see his holding off the heartless from making it to him.

A rush of Adrenaline shot through Riku's body and washed away the pain. 'I have to seal the keyhole or everyone's going to die.'

Riku twisted his body till he was facing in the direction of the keyhole. There it was, dark ooze flowing out of the shining keyhole. It was situated what seemed like the middle of the sphere. Riku began swimming towards the keyhole as fast as he could. He ignored the sound of the muffled fighting around him and any heartless that gave chase.

Riku floated to a stop in front of the keyhole and raised is blade. Light began to form around the end of his blade and he pointed it at the keyhole. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw heartless trying to reach him before he could seal the keyhole. Blue streaks tore into the heartless before they could reach him and he turned his head to see Lulu casting blizzara on the heartless.

Wiping away his surprise at her saving him, he turned back to the keyhole. He felt the key blade release the energy into the keyhole and heard a muffled click. Relieved, Riku turned towards group and gave a thumbs up sign. His celebration ended when he noticed his groups troubled faces. He looked around and noticed that all the heartless were standing as still as status. They all seemed to be watching the keyhole.

Suddenly, Riku remember what happened at the cave when Sora sealed the keyhole. Panicking, he began to swim away from the keyhole and toward his group. 'I can't warn them! It's to late.'

Behind Riku, the darkness left the keyhole and began sucking in the surrounding area. Heartless flew by Riku as he desperately swam against the current to not be pulled in.

Soon the sphere was a whirling energy of spinning water and heartless.

Riku felt himself being spun around and smashing into heartless. The water stilled instantly as the dark orb began to pulse. Riku shook his head to clear his foggy brain. He quickly looked around to see if his allies were okay. He saw both Gippal outside of the orb. He was leaning against the wall and had a green tint as tried to settle his stomach. Kimahri was also outside of the orb. He was on his feet but was using the wall as support. He looked….Well he looked like Kimahri usual stoic self.

'Even after all that he doesn't show any facial expressions?' Thought Riku with wonder. He felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned around to see Lulu floating behind him. 'Well she looks okay' thought Riku. 'Although she does look a little white'

Lulu pointed at her mouth and made signs. 'Is she trying to tell me something' Riku stared at Lulu and could only shake his head at her. She frantically pointed at her mouth and opened it.

'Oh, she doesn't have her breathing device.' thought Riku. 'So that's what it was… She doesn't have her breathing device!' Riku began to panic as he looked around to find it. Realizing it was pointless he turned back to her and tried to tell her to leave the water. She shook her head no and pointed at the edge of the water. Riku looked to where she pointed and saw that the edge of the sphere was glowing.

He reached out and felt his hand hit a barrier. He panicked as he realized that Lulu was stuck in the water with no way to breath. He felt Lulu tug on his shoulder and he turned back to her. She began pointing to his mouth and then pointed at hers.

Realizing that she was asking to share his device, Riku began to take it out.

"Let her die Riku. You don't need a weakly like her slowing you down."

Riku paused as he heard the voice in his head. 'What do you mean let her die. I can't do that!'

"Yes you can. What makes you think she will give it back when you need it? Why should you trust her. So far she has done nothing to deserve being saved has she not?"

Riku struggled with himself as he tried to decide whether to save Lulu or not. In front of him, he could see Lulu becoming sluggish in her movements from lack of oxygen.

"Just let her die Riku. Why should you care. She has been nothing but a bitch to you! Let her cold ass rot here!"

Memories of Lulu flashed through Riku's mind. He saw how she had treated him coldly when they first met and how she said she didn't trust him.

'Why should I save her' thought Riku with a evil grin 'She deserves this.'

He began to turn away but stopped when more of his memories of her flashed through his mind. He saw her crying before the grave, smiling at him as he jumped, and the way she looked falling from the sky. 'I… I can't kill her!' screamed Riku in his head. He whirled around and took out his device and shoved it into her mouth.

" I'm disappointed in you Riku. It seems you are still weak"

Riku ignored the voice and watched as Lulu recovered. He could hear muffled coughs as oxygen once again filled her lungs. He turned away from her with shame in his heart. 'I almost let her die.'

While Riku was tending to Lulu, the orb had been growing. It grew into a slim humanoid figure with fins growing out of its arms and legs. It had webbed hands and feet with gills around its neck. It had a human head with razor sharp teeth protruding from its mouth. In its hands it held a dark orb in the shape of a blitz ball.

Riku summoned his key blade and got into his battle stance. Behind him, he heard Lulu come up beside him. She was once more ready to battle. Riku heard muffled thuds to left of him and he looked over to see Gippal and Kimahri smashing against the barrier.

'Looks like it's just me and Lulu left to fight against this thing.' He began to feel pressure from not breathing. 'We have to make this quick or I'll die from not breathing!' He shot forward through the water. He aimed his key blade for the heartless neck trying for a quick kill. The heartless effortlessly dodged the attack as he used its webbed body like a fish. It rocketed backwards and threw its dark ball at Riku.

Riku held his blade up across his body to deflect the blow. The ball smashed into his blade and pushed Riku backwards. The ball kept going till it smashed Riku into the barrier. Riku screamed in pain as his injured back was crushed against the barrier. He felt all his air being squeezed out of him as the ball used his body to bounce back to its master. Unable to take the pain any longer and lack of oxygen. Riku brain shutdown and he passed out.

Lulu swam over and forced the breathing device into Riku's mouth as he floated limply

in the water. 'He can't take much more of this' thought Lulu as she scanned Riku's body. 'it looks like that last attack injured his back.' Lulu turned back towards the heartless. 'Guess I will have to fight it by myself.'

She pointed at the heartless and cast Blizzaga. A huge column of ice flew towards the swimming heartless. The ice was moving slower and slower as it approached the heartless do to the water resistance. By the time it reached the target, it was able to easily dodge by simply swimming to the side. 'Damn it! Looks like blizzaga won't work here. The water is slowing it down.'

She quickly switched spells and cast Waterga on the heartless. A huge force of water shot out at the heartless. It simply swam forward unaffected as it used its fins to navigate the path of the water to avoid damage.

'This is bad, waterga doesn't work on it either. What do I do? I can't use fire underwater, ice is to slow, water doesn't affect it, and if I use lighting, I'll be hitting us as well as the heartless.' Lulu thoghts began to become clouded as she desperately thought of a good plan.'Now My mind is starting to go foggy from lack of oxygen.' Lulu was interrupted when the heartless flung the dark ball towards her. She realized she couldn't dodge and tried to cast blizzard to deflect the ball. Her body moved sluggishly from being deprived of oxygen for to long. 'Dammit, I'm not going to make it!'

Suddenly, Riku's blade collided with the orb and caused it to curve away from Lulu. She looked back at Riku to see him once again conscious. Riku swam over to Lulu and pulled out the device and handed to her. She quickly put it into her mouth and took big gulps of air.

Next to Lulu, Riku was racking his brains for a way to defeat the monster before him. 'The heartless is to fast, I can't get a good blow on it.' He looked at Lulu 'Lulu magic is ineffective against the heartless as well. None her spells will work and the only spell that could possible damage it is thunder because its surrounded by water. The problem is that it will spread out through the water and cause damage to us as well. If only we had some way to draw the lighting to the heartless… That's it!'

Riku began to swim at the heartless. The heartless took aim at him and threw the dark ball at Riku. It collided with him and carried him across the Sphere to smack against the barrier. The ball rebounded off the wall and rocketed towards the heartless.

Lulu began to frantically swim towards the spot where the ball had crushed Riku into the barrier once again. She stopped when she realized there was no body floating in the water. Confused she looked back towards the heartless to see Riku clinging on the ball headed for it. As the ball was caught by the heartless, Riku used the moment of the ball and jumped forward to stab his Key blade through the heartless's neck.

The heartless withered in agony and backhanded Riku away from itself. Lulu caught Riku's body as it floated limply through the water. Riku weakly pointed at Lulu then at the monster. Lulu tried to understand what he was saying. She looked at the heartless and then back at Riku with a confused expression. Riku used the last of his strength to mouth a single word.

'Thundaga?' thought Lulu 'He wants me to use Thundaga. I can't! If I use it, we will both be hit with it.' She looked back at the monster as it tried to remove the blade from its throat. 'That's it!' thought Lulu with excitement 'That's what he wants me to do.'

She gently released Riku and pointed at the heartless. She gathered all the power she head left. "THUNDAGA!" screamed Lulu. A giant lighting bolt split the sky and collided with the barrier. It tore through it and entered the water. Instead of dispersing throughout the water, it all shot towards the blade in the throat of the heartless. The key blade was stuck by the lighting and sent it coursing through the heartless's body.

It withered in pain as key blade infused lighting ripped its body to shreds from the inside out. With a silent scream it blew apart in a bright flash. Lulu turned back to Riku with feeling of relief. It was quickly replaced with dread when she saw that Riku was floating unmoving in the water. 'Riku!' Quickly she pulled out the breathing device and forced it into his mouth. Then she grabbed his body and began to desperately drag his body through the water.

She busted through the edge of the sphere and landed in the stands. Gippal and Kimahri arrived seconds later. Lulu turned to them and screamed "Get the airship here now!"

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**Authors Notes: Next chapter someone is joining him. Can you guess who it is?**

**Poll: I may be putting a poll up after this chapter. I'm not sure what world to go to next. So I may have you guys decide.**

**REVIEW!**


	6. A Moments Peace

**Author's Notes: Writers block is a terrible thing. . I have decided to start writing my next story. So my updates will be slower then usual.**

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**A Moments Peace**

A new day dawned with the rising of the sun and the decline of the moon. Across the land people rejoiced as they awoke to a day free of the darkness that had plagued them. Children played on the streets and adults were merrily chatting. Far from the joyous crowd was a white tent. Inside, laid a teen with silver hair and bandages covering his upper body. Sunlight streamed through the opening and rested on the face of the teen. The teen began to stir and opened his eyes slowly. He rubbed his eyes and tried to sit up but gasped in pain and fell back into bed.

"Hey Riku, finally awake I see." Riku turned his head towards the voice to see a young man with spiky blonde hair and a eye patch covering his right eye standing in the opening of the tent. "You shouldn't try to get up. You are still injured from the fight." Riku simply grunted and stayed still. "So Gippal, is the fights over?" Gippal dragged a stool over to the bed and sat down. " Yeah its over. All the heartless have been destroyed." Riku gave a sigh of relief . "However, we do have another problem" said Gippal with a mischievous smile on his face. Riku frowned "What this new problem Gippal? Is it serious?" Gippal shook his head "Yeah its serious. You got to get better soon or your going to miss the celebration we have planned." Riku could feel his eye twitch at what he heard. "So this big problem is me missing a party? Gippal remind me to never take you serious again." Gippal had a false look of pain of his face "Riku, you can't possibly mean you don't mind missing a party to celebrate our victory." Riku merely closed his eyes and laid his head back "Nope." Gippal shook his in sadness "Aw, poor Riku, unable to enjoy the simple pleasures of life." Riku chuckled at Gippal's false look of despair on his face. Gippal stood up "Well Riku, it was nice talking with you, but I got to go to a meeting. Glad to see that you have joined the world of the living again." Gippal walked towards the exit but stopped at the opening. "Riku?"

"Yeah Gippal?"

"I meant what I said Riku. You need to rest and get better." With those words, Gippal walked out the tent. Riku watched him leave with a confused expression. 'What was that about?'

-[Line Break]-

For the next three days, Riku was bedridden in the tent and everyday doctors would come in to check on him. They explained to him that his back was severely damaged in the fight and for some reason light spells did not work on his wounds. Riku was disturbed by this as he remembered how that had happened before with his fight at Destiny Islands. He was distracted from his worries as the doctor told him to drink a potion and then began to heal medical herbs on his back. The doctor explained that he would have to drink a potion and have the herbs applied every day to speed up his recover. The rest of the day he simply sat in bed tried to entertain himself with a book or watching television. His boring day was occasionally brightened by a visit from Gippal. Everyday he would come by when he was free to keep him entertained. Kimahri visited him on the first day but did not stay long. Their conversation was very short with only Kimahri saying three words but that was the longest conversation he ever had with Kimahri. Kimahri only visited that one time and Riku never saw him again. He later learned that Kimahri had returned home. Lulu had also visited him on the first day. Riku was surprised when she thanked him for all his help and couldn't help but blush when she actually smiled at him with gratitude. However, after that she never visited again and Riku was left wondering where she went.

Finally the fourth day arrived and Riku was free from his boredom. He joyfully left the tent and hoped he would never have to go through that again. Gippal was there to greet him and led him to a room that he would be using during his stay. Riku wasn't interested in the room and pestered Gippal about wanted to explore the area. Gippal reluctantly agreed and became tour guide for the day. Riku explored the markets, ports, and stadium and thought it was a nice place, when it wasn't infested with heartless. Riku began to wonder how everyone was able to restore the city in such a short amount time.

He turned to Gippal "Hey Gippal, how were you guys able to restore the city so fast." Gippal looked uneasy "I guess I couldn't hide it from you for long. You see Riku, you were in that tent longer than just four or five days." Riku felt dread creep into his happy mood. "Just how long was I recovering Gippal?" Gippal looked at Riku with a serious expression. "You were asleep in that bed for two weeks before you woke up. So if you can't those two weeks with the time you were conscious, then you would have been recovering from that battle for around three weeks."

"Three weeks" shouted Riku. "Why didn't you tell me it took me that long to recover!"

"I didn't want you to overexert yourself, Riku. If I would have told you how long it took, you would have tried and leave even though you weren't fully healed."

"But I have to continue on my mission to clear out the worlds with heartless! Sora and the king are probably almost done with their worlds! Wait, if I was recovering for weeks, then that means Sora and Kairi must be worried about me not responding to their messages. I got to get back to my ship so I c-"

Gippal interrupted Riku's rant "No, Riku you shouldn't travel yet. Your still not completely healed." Riku turned to Gippal with a scowl on his face "I can't do that Gippal. I have to go now. I have already been delayed to long. I'm falling behind the others!" Gippal glared at Riku "What happens if you overexert yourself and hurt yourself even worse? What will you do when your by yourself and have no one to help you! Huh, tell me!" Riku faltered for a second. "That won't happen Gippal. I'm fine right now. I don't need any more time to heal see." Riku jumped in place and tried to hide the wince when he felt pain shoot through his back. Gippal merely shook his head. "You can't fool me Riku. You have to at least wait a couple of more days. Please, just wait until the festival is over." Riku sighed " When is the festival Gippal?"

"The festival is in two days Riku. You won't have to wait much longer. You can go back to your ship and respond to any messages you have, but please wait until the festival before you leave."

Riku took a moment to consider his options. 'I can leave now and possible make things even worse with my injuries or I could wait two more days and hope it doesn't cost me.' Sighing in defeat, Riku looked at Gippal. "Fine, I'll stay until the festival. But, I won't stay any longer than that." Gippal let a sigh of relief "That's fine with me Riku. Now that's out of the way, lets get back to the base. It is getting late, and you are going to need all the rest your going to get." Riku chuckled at Gippal "Since when did you become my mother?" Gippal shoved Riku "Hey!"

The next day Riku returned to his ship and checked for any messages he may have received. He had two messages from the king and to his surprise none from Sora. 'That's weird, I would have thought that Sora would be freaking out about now.' Riku simply shrugged and opened up the first message from the king.

_Riku, how is your mission going?_

_End of Message_

'Well that was short' thought Riku in surprise. 'All well, guess I should check the next message and then respond.

_Riku are you okay? I have not heard from you in weeks. I hope you are merely busy with finishing your mission and not in trouble. I have one world left and then I shall be headed back to the castle. However, if you need help, I would gladly come and help you._

_End of Message_

Riku finished reading the message then began to write his own to the king.

_I am doing fine Mickey. I have sealed one world and due to some problems, my mission was delayed. Do not worry about me, I am fine and nothing is wrong. I will be heading to the next world soon and hopefully it will go more smoothly._

Riku finished typing and sent his message to the king. 'No need for him to worry about me. He has to focus on his own mission.' Riku then began to prepare his ship for takeoff. He spent the rest of the day checking the system to see if everything was working.

Riku returned to the base to eat dinner with Gippal and surprisingly, Lulu who had appeared out of nowhere. Even though Riku and Gippal pestered Lulu about where she went, she merely ignored them and continued to eat. Gippal gave up and began to describe the festival to Riku and what events that will happen during and after it.

"Your going to the festival?" Riku jumped in surprised and turned towards Lulu. "uh, Yeah I am. Why, are you going?" Lulu shook her head "No, I'm not going to the festival. I don't really feel like celebrating. I also thought you would be gone by now. Taking break?" Riku pointed at Gippal "No, I'm not taking a break! This person here wouldn't let me think about leaving until he felt I was fully healed." Gippal laughed "It's true Lulu, I was able to talk Riku into not leaving till after the festival."

"So" said Lulu "you going to be leaving after the festival and travel to the next world?" Riku nodded. Lulu was silent for a second before turning to Riku. "The world you're going to, is it full of heartless as well?" Riku nodded again "Yeah, the worlds I'm headed to all have heartless overflowing into their world. That's why I'm traveling in the first place." Lulu seemed to think about what he said "I see… Well I hope you enjoy the festival tomorrow. Have a nice night" Riku watched as Lulu cleaned up her plates and then go outside. He turned to Gippal with a confused face. "What was all that about?" Gippal merely shrugged. "I have no idea man. It's to hard trying to figure out what Lulu is thinking. Anyways we should go to bed early today. That way you can be fully energized for the festival tomorrow!"

Riku stood up "Okay then Gippal, good night."

-[Line Break]-

Riku woke up cranky. 'Man I didn't get much sleep because of what Lulu said. Maybe I shouldn't go to the festival. I only promise Gippal that I would wait until the festival. I never said I would go to it.' Riku shook his head 'It's to late to think about this anyways. The festival is already here.' Riku got up and went to the bathroom for his morning ritual. After he took a shower, he dressed in some clothes that Gippal had given him since his original pair was dirty at the moment. The shirt was a simple white shirt with red stripes around the shoulders and gray baggy pants with multiple pockets along the sides. Riku grimaced at the way he looked. 'Not what I would normally wear. All well, guess I'll just have to put up with it till I clean my other clothes.' Riku was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard someone knocking on his door. He walked over and opened it to see Gippal standing there in fancy clothes. Riku couldn't stop himself from laughing. "Hahahaha, why are you wearing clothes like that!"

"Shut up Riku!" yelled Gippal "Me and the other leaders all have to give a speech today and Nooj made it painfully clear that I better be presentable." Riku merely shook his head at Gippal "So you came all this way to show me your new clothes and complain about what Nooj is making you do?" Gippal shook his head "No! I came by to tell you that I will be leaving earlier than you. Got to get there early and meet with Nooj and Baralai."

Riku nodded "I see, so I guess I'll meet you later then?"

"Yeah, sorry about this but its my duty. See yeah later Riku!" Gippal waved at Riku and ran out of the building . Riku yawned 'Gippal always seems to have to much energy where does he get it all and where can I get some' Riku stomached growled 'Well I guess eating would be a good start.'

Riku grabbed some breakfast and sat down in the dinning hall. He was surprised when Lulu entered the room and chose to sit down by him. "Morning Riku"

"Good morning Lulu."

"So are you ready to leave for the festival, Riku?"

Riku nodded "Yeah, I'm just grabbing something to eat. Gippal came by earlier and said that I would have to go by myself because of this important speech he had."

Lulu took a piece of toast from Riku's plate "So you going to go by yourself?"

'She ate my toast!' Riku grumbled in his head "Yes, might as well have a look at this festival before I go."

Lulu seemed to think while she chewed on her(Riku's) toast. "So your not worried about falling behind in your mission?"

Riku tried to say no but couldn't "Yeah, I'm worried about spending to much time here but I'm already here so I might as well enjoy it."

Lulu snatched another toast "Well do you have anyone else that is going with you?"

'Stop eating my toast!' Riku felt his eye twitch. "No, why are asking? Do you want to come to?"

Lulu laughed " No, I don't want to go. I just wanted to know if you were going to go with anybody." After her reply, there was a long pause as Lulu chewed on her(Riku's!) toast. "Hey Riku, do you ever get lonely?" Riku looked at her in surprise "What?"

Lulu shifted uncomfortable "Well I just want to know if you ever lonely. I mean you're traveling the worlds alone and now your going to a festival and have no one to celebrate with. I was just kind of thinking that it seems lonely to be by yourself for so long."

'Yes' Riku forced himself to smile "No, I'm sure I will find something to entertain myself at the festival and I can always meet new people at the worlds I go to. So you see I'm always able to make new friends on the planets I visit."

Lulu stared at Riku and then stood up with a smile on her face "Sure Riku, whatever you say." She stole the last piece of toast off of Riku's plate and walked away.

Riku could only think of one thing as he watched her leave. 'She ate all my toast!'

-[Line Break]-

When Riku first arrived at the festival, his mood was lighter than it had been in days. There were many stores with interesting merchandise, games with prizes, and entertaining shows aligned along every street. He played a few games and watched as performers showed off their talents. However, his mood quickly became darker as he looked around him. Everyone was laughing and people were walking around in groups of two or more. Children were running around unsupervised and in large groups with one goal set in mind, candy. Riku began to feel out of place as he walked along the streets by himself. Riku found himself sighing 'Lulu was right, I am kind of lonely. The only people I know here are Lulu and Gippal. Gippal is to busy being a leader and Lulu didn't come.' Riku entered a restaurant and sat down at a booth. He order his lunch and then leaned back. 'I should have left and not gone to this festival. I should just hurry and finish this mission and return to home with Sora and Kairi. At least there I can have some peace.'

"Is that really true Riku? Have you really ever felt peace at that place you call home?"

Riku's eyes snapped open and he rigidly sat up. 'Damn that voice is back. I forgot all about it for the past few days.'

"You say you would feel at peace at Destiny Islands, but I know that you are wrong. What was the reason you originally fell into the darkness?"

Riku was surprised by the question 'Why did I first enter the darkness? …I remember, it was originally to get off the islands and later I entered even deeper into the darkness to save Kairi. Then later I went even deeper to awaken Sora.'

"You see Riku, that place you call home has all the things that made you fall into darkness in the first place. Wanting to go back to the very place and people who are responsible for awakening your darkness is not what I thought you would see as peaceful."

'Your wrong!' thought Riku angrily. 'I was able to leave the darkness because of my friends and I realized that my home is with them. You won't trick me into betraying my friends again!'

"The only one you are betraying is yourself. By all my means return to your friends. They should make it much easier in dealing with you."

'What do you mean by that?' Silence was the only answer Riku received. 'Answer me, what are you planning.' Riku gave up when he received no answer again. 'Damn it, he's gone. Hopefully, I will prove him wrong when this is all over.' Riku suddenly felt restless. 'I need to hurry on to the next world. I only hope that voice is wrong about my friends.'

Riku hurriedly ate his lunch and then traveled to the port to get a ship to return to the base. An hour later, he was packed and standing in front of the gates. Riku took one last look at the base behind him 'See yaw later Gippal, Lulu. Sorry that I won't be able to say goodbye, but I have a lot of time to make up.' He began to walk away but stopped when he saw a figure in front of him.

" Trying to leave without saying goodbye?"

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**Author's Endnotes: This was originally suppose to be a short chapter but it seems I got into a good rhythm and it became bigger than I expected! My other story should be up in a day or two so if you like this one try out my other one.**


	7. Surprises, Both Big And Small

**Important Notes: **Okay in this chapter I made it to where Lulu does not know of Tidus, Wakka, Yuna, Rikku, and Paine(?). I didn't know how to fit them in the story. Especially when Tidus and Wakka are kids from another world and the other three are little fairy things. They just don't fit lol.

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**_Surprises, Both Big And Small_**

_Re-cap _

_Riku hurriedly ate his lunch and then traveled to the port to get a ship to return to the base. An hour later, he was packed and standing in front of the gates. Riku took one last look at the base behind him 'See yaw later Gippal, Lulu. Sorry that I won't be able to say goodbye, but I have a lot of time to make up.' He began to walk away but stopped when he saw a figure in front of him._

" _Trying to leave without saying goodbye?"_

_end_

Riku frowned at the person in front of him. "How did you know I was leaving?"

"It was pretty easy to figure out Riku. When I couldn't find you at the festival, I knew you were headed back here to leave."

Riku frowned deepened "I see, but how were you able to catch up to me when in such a short amount of time?"

"Heh, give me some credit Riku! I'm not the leader of the Albed for no reason! All I had to do was "Borrow" an airship and I was able to easily arrive here in no time."

"Gippal, why do I get the feeling you did more than "borrow" an airship?" Gippal answered him with a shrugged and an innocent look on his face. "Never mind, I don't want to know what you really did." Riku shifted into a defensive stance. " So, did you come here to try and stop me from leaving?"

Gippal joking demeanor quickly changed to a more serious mood. "No, I haven't come to stop you Riku. I know that you were restless the past few day and have been wanting to leave for awhile now. Actually, I'm surprised you didn't try and leave this morning. You actually came to the festival."

"Hey, I keep my promises to my friends Gippal."

Gippal merely shrugged at Riku's accusation. "No, not really, but there was always a chance you would." Seeing Riku's rising anger, Gippal quickly continued " Anyways, the real reason I came here has nothing to do with stopping you. In fact, it is quite the opposite of that."

" …Then what are your really here for then Gippal?"

"I came here to tell you I'm coming with you Riku b-…." Gippal paused when he saw the look on Riku's face.

Shock coursed through Riku as his mind registered what Gippal just said. He struggled to speak and succeeded in mimicking a goldfish. Gippal laughed at Riku's and couldn't help throwing in a friendly insult. " I know your shocked Riku, but impersonating a goldfish is going a little far?" Riku finally snapped out of his daze and stepped towards Gippal with a panicked look. "Gippal, you can't come with me its to dangerous! You never even heard of the heartless till now, and after all this, you want to travel to different worlds fighting thousandths of them! There not the worst thing though. The darkness… that's what is the worst thing you could ever face. I should know since I-I… ." The words wouldn't leave his mouth and he could only grimace as they burned in his mind 'I am forever trapped in the darkness.'

Riku was interrupted from thoughts when Gippal placed a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down Riku let me finish." Riku looked up to see an unusual look of seriousness on Gippal's face. " It's true I came here with the intent to join you but I realized on the way here that I can't. It's true that I have never known about the heartless till now, and that I have never seen or been in the darkness before. If these were the only reasons, then I would have still gone with you. However, my responsibility that I have here is why I can't leave." A confused look appeared on Riku's face. "Responsibility?" Gippal serious expression never left as he nodded "We Albed have always been outcasts of society since we are more reliant on Machina. Believe it or not, a few years earlier Spira was mainly against using machina and a person could be punished if found with forbidden machina. Lets just say that eventually tension between us exploded and there was a battle between us. We Albed lost our home and were forced to scatter. We believed that there would never be peace between our people." Gippal serious expression was replaced with a bitter smile. "Ironically, the thing that brought our people together was a thousand year old monster named Sin. It caused so much death and destruction that it made us Albed with our machina and the Yevonites with their magic and Aeons unite. The battle that ensued was a bloody one that cost us many of our people. We were never great in size and the loses were incurred didn't help. After the battle was over and Sin was slain, we Albed were few in numbers and we could only hope the Yevonites would keep the alliance we had gained through blood."

Gippal expression changed from bitter to a look of someone remembering something dear to them. "It was thanks to Nooj and Baralai that we were able to keep the peace between us. They had gained fame and rose in rank during the battle with Sin and had fought with the Albed. With their help, I became the representative of the Albed and together we brought peace back to Spira. Its been three years since that time and as you can see we have come a long way. Still, I am the leader of the Albed and they rely on me to help guide them to the future. I can't leave now and abandon them. Just like you can't abandon you mission as a key wielder."

Gippal had a sad smile on his face. "So you see Riku, I originally came here to join you and help you with your mission. But now," Gippal held his hand in a fist "I came to say goodbye instead." Riku tried to hide the sadness he felt with a smirk and raised his fist and bumped against Gippal's. "Geez, Gippal, could you be any more depressing. Sure we are saying goodbye for now, but who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to visit this world again." Riku began to walk away and Gippal stood on the road and watched him go. " Besides Gippal, like you said, I have a responsibility to my friends and the world to." Riku kept walking toward his ship and never turned back to see his friend one last time. 'This is the path I have chosen to walk. I know what I must do as a Keyweilder and why it must be done. Still, every step I take only leads me closer to the heartless, to darkness, and to…' Riku didn't have to finish his thought as he felt dark being in his soul shift. "To me"

_[Line Break]_

A figure was sitting on a strange aircraft 'Why am I here?' The figure shook its head 'A better question is why am I still here?" The figure laughed "Guess I had nothing better to do but sit here and be lost in my memories. Everyone else is enjoying themselves at the festival or at home with their loved ones.'

"Hey whose up there!" The figure was surprised from its thoughts as it looked down to see Riku looking up at it. 'I guess Riku is leaving now' Noticing Riku's defensive stance, the figure quickly stood up to be seen easier. "Sorry Riku, I didn't mean to surprise you like this." Riku blinked in surprise when he saw who it was. "Lulu? What are you doing here." Lulu could only shrug as she didn't know the answer either. " I don't know. I came here to see the ship that everyone was talking about before I left, and I seemed to have lost track of time." At the mention of leaving, Riku noticed that Lulu had a bag laying beside her. "Leaving? Where are you going?" Lulu picked up her bag and began to climb down. "I'm leaving to go back home to Besaid. I don't originally live here. I volunteered to join the army when the Heartless appeared. Now that they are gone I am free to return to my home." 'Alone' Lulu shook her head to clear the thought and when she reached the ground she turned to Riku. "That's when I decided to see the ship everyone was gossiping about and I lost track of time. At that's where you found me later"

He felt a strange sense of disappointment when he found out she wasn't there to say goodbye. 'I know we have only known each other for a month, but I thought we were still close enough to be called friends.' He shook of the feeling and smiled at Lulu. "Well I'm glad I was able to see you so that I can say goodbye. I have already said goodbye to Gippal and who knows I may one day come back to visit. Anyways, I hope that you reach your home safely." Riku walked to the hatch and opened it. He looked over his shoulder one last time "see you later."

Lulu watched as he walked into his ship. She felt anxious all of a sudden and had a million thoughts running through her head. 'Why don't I want to leave?' A picture of a person with red hair, smile on his face, and his blue sword hanging at his side appeared in her mind. 'Chappu…. That's right, I have no one to go home to. Everyone I knew or loved is dead' She looked towards the ship. 'Maybe, just maybe he will let me.' Decision made, she opened the hatch and followed Riku into the ship.

_[Line Break]_

Riku fell into the pilot seat with a sigh 'Finally I'm done checking everything. Looks like it's time to continue on my journey. Wonder where I'm headed next.' Riku searched his bag and found the letter with the worlds listed on it. 'Lets see, I just completed my mission here on Spira. So the next world I am headed to is Devil's Bayou. Sounds nice.' Riku thought sarcastically. He began to punch in the coordinates but stopped when he thought he heard something. He waited but shrugged and began to continue his task until he heard it again. 'Is that knocking?' He walked towards the door of the cockpit to see if the sound was coming from there. He heard sound again and nodded. 'Yep, it was definitely knocking. Question is, what is this person doing on my ship?' He frowned and grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. Riku could only blink in a surprised stupor at the person standing before him.

Lulu barely stopped herself from laughing at Riku's face. He looked like he saw something he never seen before. "Are you going to let me in or stare at my face all day?" Riku, still dazed from her sudden appearance, hastily stumbled to the side to let her in. Lulu walked past Riku and threw her bag besides the copilot's seat and sat down. "So this is what the inside of your ship looks like. Smaller than I thought it would be." Riku's mind final began working again. "Lulu! What are you doing in here?" Lulu merely shrugged at him. "I don't know, just felt like coming along on your journey." Riku rubbed his head in frustration. "Not you to Lulu. First it was Gippal with his surprise visit and his little trick of getting me to believe he was going to join me. Now you sitting in my ship telling me your going to join me." Riku fell into his chair with a sigh. "Look Lulu, you can't come with me. I'm going to tell you the exact same thing I told Gippal. You don't know what the heartless are capable and how dangerous the darkness is."

Lulu frowned at Riku with a dangerous look in her eye. " I don't know how dangerous the heartless can be you say. You seem to forgot who jumped into the mass of heartless with you or who fought beside you against that creature in the water. As I recall, it was my magic that made it possible to defeat it and I even had to save your ass at the end." Riku hastily raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Calm down Lulu, that's not what I meant. I know that I owe you one for saving my life and that you're a good fighter. However, the heartless are not the same on every world and the darkness which they come from is much worse than anything you have seen yet." Lulu settle down a little at Riku's acknowledgement of her skill but still had a stubborn look. " So your saying that I can't go because I have no experience in dealing with this darkness." Riku nodded at Lulu with a relieved expression. 'Finally she understands what I mean.'

"I understand your concern Riku. However, I think to say no to me solely on that reason isn't good enough."

"What not?"

"Did you know everything about the heartless and darkness when you began to travel across the worlds?"

"…No, but that's different!"

"How so? What is the difference between you and me Riku?"

"I was chosen by the keyblade to fight against the darkness. I had a weapon that could protect me better from the heartless then other would have."

"So your saying just because I wasn't chosen, I can't go? Only people with Keyblades are worthy of fighting?"

Riku stood up with and waved his hands in frustration. "That's not what I meant! It just means I was better prepared then you and people without key blades can fight to."

Lulu looked up at Riku with a smirk that told Riku she knew that she was winning this argument. "Then why can't I fight? You saw how strong I am. I am a trained soldier and we have already proven that we can work together. So what reason, besides only having litle experience in fighting the heartless, can I not go?"

Riku wracked his brains with any possible excuse he could come up with. "Wait! You are a soldier. You have a responsibility to protect those people in Luca."

Lulu couldn't stop herself from laughing. "Riku did you forget that I told you I resigned from my position just a few minutes ago."

Riku almost slapped himself in the face for forgetting that fact. He shook off his momentary period of stupidity and tried one last desperate plea. "What about your friends and family at your home. Won't they be worried about you if you disappear without them knowing what happened to you." Riku noticed how Lulu suddenly went quite at the mention of her family and friends. 'Did it work?' He thought with hope. When Lulu looked up at Riku, he felt a chill go down his spine. 'What's with that look?'

Lulu's eyes were longer angry but cold and empty. "No, there is no one that would miss me anymore."

_[Line Break]_

Riku tiredly leaned against the wheel of the ship. His thoughts were scrambled over what happened at the end of his conversation with Lulu. After he had asked the question about her family and friends, she had acted strangely. The image of her eyes flashed in his mind and he couldn't stop himself from shuddering. Then she simply stood up and headed out the door with her bag and said she was going to bed. Riku found he couldn't speak and had let her go. Now here he was in space with a major headache and an self imposed partner. He sighed as he looked at the screen to see when they would arrive at their destination. 'Six more hours till we arrive at the new world.' He leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed. 'Guess I can catch a quick nap to try and recover from all that has happened today.'

**BEEP ****… BEEP ... BEEP … ****BEEP … ****BEEP … ****BEEP … ****BEEEEP**

Riku jerked awake to hear the alarm going crazy. His mind was disoriented as he fumbled around to see what was wrong.

"What the fuck is that noise!" Riku jerked around to see a fuming Lulu standing in the doorway.

He turned back around when he felt the ship shudder. "Lulu get buckled in now!"

"Why what's going on?

"Were going in for a crash landing!"

"What!" Lulu looked up to see the surface of a swampy greenish land coming full speed at them. She half ran, half staggered to her seat and quickly strapped herself in. "What the hell were you doing?"

Riku felt a twitch coming on. "I was sleeping!"

Lulu couldn't stop herself, she whacked Riku in the head. "Your were sleeping when you were supposed to be flying!"

Riku rubbed his head with one hand and with the other tried to stabilize the ship as much as possible. "Don't hit me! I'm trying to stabilize the ship!"

"It's not my fault you fell asleep at the wheel. I thought you had more sense than that."

"I don't need to hear that from someone who just invited themselves onto this ship and caused all this to happen!"

"If you would just accept someone's help once in awhile instead of trying to do everything yourself, then maybe you wouldn't be so tired!"

"What did you say?"

The two had completely forgotten about the current issue at hand and were arguing back and forth over whose fault it was. In the background, the alarm was going off, red lights were flashing, the ground was glowing larger on the screen, and if you looked closely, the screen looked like it had a sweat drop on the side of its screen as its pilots were arguing.

**CRASH! BANG! KRRRRRRRRR! **

The ship skidded to a stop as it collided into a fallen tree. The lights flickered and slowly faded away to nothing. Silence spread throughout the forest as the ship settle into the swampy land. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours as the ship laid silent with no movement or sound coming from the inside.

As the sky began to darken, a lone figure appeared from behind a patch of trees. The figure walked towards the crash sight as a bird seemed to hover over it. The person stopped in front of the hatch and knocked. When no answer came, the person struggle with the door until it partly opened but got stuck on the log it was leaing against. The person slipped inside and the bird seemed to follow the person. The door slowly closed and silence was apparent once again throughout the swamp.

_[Line Break]_

'aww, why does my head hurt?' Lulu tried to sit up but quickly laid back when she felt queasy. 'ug, what happened?' she looked around as best as she could and noticed she was lying on the floor of the cockpit with a blanket over her. She then noticed that a person was beside her. She turned her head to see the back of Riku's head. 'Riku?' As the memories slowly started coming back, Lulu face slowly got angrier and angrier. Riku slept soundly unaware about the horrible fate he would experience. Before Lulu could gather enough strength to fry his ass with magic, she heard a bump and some shuffling from outside the door to the cockpit. She warily turned to the door and prepared herself for an attack. The door burst open and a bird flew in the room and landed on a chair. 'A bird?' thought Lulu with surprise. Then her attention was drawn back to the door as a figure stumbled through the door as it struggled to carrier a bowl full of water in its hands. Lulu eyes widened in surprise when the person turned out to be a little girl. The girl carefully walked the rest of the way and set the bowl down with a satisfied smile on her face. "Finally, your awake lady! I was getting worried when I couldn't wake you." Lulu tried to speak but all that come was strangled sound. She coughed and cleared her throat and tried again. Her voice came out weak and dry sounding. "Who are you?" The girl smiled brightly at Lulu and pointed at herself "I'm Penny and I'm the one who helped take care of you." Lulu smiled at the happy child. " I'm Lulu and that's Riku" she said as she pointed at Riku. "So you have been taking us the entire time. Thank you." Penny blushed and looked down with her foot going in small circles on the floor. "Your welcome."

Suddenly, a squeaky voice from the doorway was yelling at Penny. "Penny have they woken up yet?" Penny turned around and shouted "Yes they have Miss Bianca!" Lulu tried to look around Penny to see who was speaking but couldn't see anyone. "How are you poor dear. You took quiet a hit to your head." Lulu could hear the voice getting closer but couldn't she anyone around. "Down here dear." Lulu looked down to she a mouse with a purple hat and coat with white fuzz on top of it. Beside her was another mouse with red hat and coat. Lulu could only stare at the mouse. "Oh my Bernard, it looks like she isn't feeling well." The mouse with the red hat looked up at Lulu. "You okay miss. You do look a little pale all of a sudden." Before she could respond, she heard a squawky voice behind her. "Maybe she got a little woozy from sitting up to fast." Lulu turned to see that it was the bird talking. Lulu eyes widened even more and she turned a few shade paler. "Orville, don't scare the poor dear like that. Look at her, she is even paler now then she was before." Orville somehow looked embarrassed "Sorry about that Bianca." Lulu felt a light touch on her hand and looked down to see Bianca patting it with in a comforting manner. "It's alright dear, no one here is going to hurt you." Lulu smiled weakly at her. "If you don't mind, I would like to get some more rest." The little mouse smiled her " Of course dear, you should get all the rest you need to recover." Then the mouse turned away and walked out the door with Bernard right behind her and Orville flying over them. Penny was the last to leave. "Goodnight Lulu." Lulu weakly smiled back "Good night Penny" Lulu laid down and pulled the covers over her head. 'What have I gotten myself into?'

* * *

**Author's notes: **I know Lulu is ooc but I made it to where she wasn't as mature as she was in the game since she is younger. Plus I hope you guys like the world I chose for their next adventure. The world is from The Rescuers cartoon.

Also I'm looking for a different name for this story. Any suggestion would be helpful.


	8. Babysitting and Roomates

**Author Notes: **Sorry for having such a slow update, but school comes first. Also, the first chapter of my other story **The Sword of The Dead (you can go to my profile to see what it is about. Its from H.O.T.D or Highschool of the dead (wiki it))** is coming out soon. Thanks to everyone who has been reading my story.

Also i have decided that my line breaker would look like this [-]

I have decided to give you a better understanding of what the inside of Breaking Dawn is like. Since I never explained the inside and we got penny and all the others running around inside of it.

**Size:** Small (Made for 1-3 man crew)

**Front of ship: **Cockpit takes up this area.

**Mid ship: **A single hallway runs down the middle of the ship.

**Top of Hallway: **Cockpit

**Bottom of Hallway: **Engine Room

**Right side of Hallway starting from top to bottom: **Hatch, Crew Room, and Captain room

**Left side of Hallway starting from top to bottom: **Kitchen/Lounge (When you open the door the left side of the room is the kitchen while the other side is a place to eat or relax.), Bathroom, and a storage room.

* * *

**Babysitting and Roomates?**

**Breaking Dawn- lounge/kitchen**

Lulu set down her fork and sighed. Around her, Riku and the others were all talking and laughing as they ate their lunch. She looked at Riku as he talked to the two little mice sitting across from him. 'How can Riku be so calm? He is talking to a couple of mice and a bird!' She shook her head 'Not only is he calm, but he is completely accepting of the story of how they came to be in this swamp.'

She turned her focus at the small child beside her. Penny had told them of how she had been kidnapped by an evil woman named Medusa. That part was not so hard to believe but the really unbelievable part was about what Bianca and Bernard did. Apparently, they come from a organization called Rescue Aid Society. They told us how they ran into Orville and made their way here all the way from a place called New York. But what really caught Lulu's and Riku's attention was of how their escape on the Medusa's swamp mobile was stopped by black creatures. Riku instantly recognized that they were heartless and began to question them about when and where they first saw them. Penny told them that she had seen them around the shack that Medusa was keeping her in and that they seemed to be following her orders. Penny's story was interrupted when Riku's stomached growled. When an answering growl from Penny stomached was heard, Riku laughed. "Looks like its time for lunch."

This pretty much summed up her morning. Talking with animals that shouldn't be able to speak, relying on a child for information about the current events surrounding this new world, and then sitting down to lunch with them. Worst of all, she had taken part in this crazy little event. She rubbed her head as she felt the beginning of a headache form.

'… How the hell did I allow myself to be caught up in this situation?'

Lulu was dragged from her depressing thoughts when she felt a tug at her sleeve. She turned to see penny staring at her with a concerned face. "Lulu are you okay? You been quiet all morning and haven't finish your lunch." Surprised, Lulu looked down to see that her food laid untouched on her plate. "Oh, its okay Penny, I'm not sick or anything. I just got lost in thought and forgot about eating." Penny sighed with relief and smiled at Lulu. "Then do you want me to warm up your food." Lulu shook her head. "No, you don't have to Penny. I'm not feeling very hungry right now."

Penny stood up and began to clean the table off. "I'm glad your weren't sick Lulu. You didn't respond when the others told you they were leaving." Lulu quickly stood up and began to help her clean up the table. "Oh, I was wondering why it was so quiet. … Wait! Where did they go?" She looked around and finally noticed that Riku and the others were gone. Penny laughed at Lulu surprised and almost dropped the dishes she was carrying. " Riku had Ms. Bianca and the others show him the way to the shack. He wanted to get a better understanding of who was controlling the heartless and where something called a keyhole was. Why would he be searching for a keyhole anyways?" Lulu lead Penny into the kitchen and placed the dishes she was holding in the sink. "The keyhole is where the heartless are coming from. We had one on at my home too. Luckily we were able to close it and hopefully will close this one to."

Penny ran back to the table to pick up her toy and returned to lulu holding it in her arms. "So those black monster will go away then?" Lulu smiled down at her and nodded. " Yes, those monster will disappear and you won't have to worry about them any longer." Penny hugged the small stuffed animal against her chest and looked up at Lulu with relief. "Thank you Lulu, those monster always scared me." Lulu felt uncomfortable at the sheer gratitude she was feeling from the little girl before her 'Those creatures must have really scared her.' She turned away from Penny and began to walk out of the kitchen. " You don't have to thank me Penny. I got my own reasons to hunt them down, and Riku is the only one who can close the passageway." Lulu entered the hallway and began to head towards her room. "Anyways, Lets not talk about the heartless anymore. I will know what to do when Riku comes back." Penny followed along behind Lulu and began to fiddle with her bear's ear. " Lulu, what are you going to do while we wait for them to get back?" Lulu looked over her shoulder at Penny and merely shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I'll just look around the ship."

"um Lulu?" She stopped walking when she noticed Penny was no longer following her. Instead, she was standing in the middle of the hallway fidgeting with her bear and giving her nervous glances. "Yes Penny?" Penny looked up at her with a hopeful face and held up her doll. "If your not busy or anything, do you want to play with me and Mr. Bear." 'No' was the first that that came to Lulu mind, but she stopped herself when she saw how hopefully little Penny was looking at her. Her mature side told her to say no to such a childish idea and continue on with her exploration of the ship. While her more childish and caring side didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings. Lulu made her decision and held out her hand to Penny. "Okay Penny, we'll play for awhile, but not to long." With a cry of joy and excitement, Penny grabbed Lulu's hand and began to drag her quickly to her room. "Thank you Lulu, Riku said you had some dolls that you and I could play with." Lulu eyes narrowed as she heard this. "Penny? Was Riku the one who suggested that you ask to play with them?" Penny nodded and looked back at Lulu "Why?" Lulu smiled at Penny and merely shrugged "No reason, just wanted to know why you would ask out of the blue to play with dolls with me." Penny seemed to accept her answer and returned her attention to dragging Lulu to her room. She missed the fury that entered Lulu's eyes and the vengeful grin that spread across her face. ' I'm going to kill Riku'

[-]

Riku jerked to a stop when he felt a paralyzing fear course through his very being. 'What was that?' thought Riku with a shiver of fear. 'Whatever it was, I hope nothing bad happens.'

"Riku, are you okay?" Riku looked over to the mice that were riding on his shoulder. "I'm okay, I just got this really bad feeling for a sec." Bianca patted Riku on the side of the face in a soothing manner. "You don't have to do this you know. We could always head back to the ship and try to find the way back to the city." Riku shook his head and continued toward his destination. "No, it would be best if I find out as much as possible about this Medusa and the heartless of this area." Bianca looked like she wanted to say more but was stopped as Bernard put a paw on her shoulder and simply shook his head. For next couple of minutes, the only sound that was heard was the nature around them, Riku's choppy breath, and the sound of the water splashing from his trek through the water.

The sound of a bird's cry alerted Riku to the sound of a bird flying over head. He looked up to see Orville coming in for a landing. He stretched his arm and allowed the bird to land clumsily on it. He ignored the feel of the bird's feet gripping onto his skin and watched with concern as the bird gasped for breath. "You okay Orville, did anyone see you? Is anybody following you?"

"One question at a time!" gasped Orville as he straightened up to remove his goggles. "No one saw me, no is following me, and I found where Medusa is." He pointed his wing toward the direction he came from. "If you walk that for about an hour, you should be able to see her shack." Riku nodded his head and beginning wading through the knee deep water toward his destination. Orville hopped up his arm and rested on his shoulder. "Sorry Riku, but I'm all tuckered out. I'm going to have to rest on your shoulder for awhile."

"Don't worry about it, you guys don't why much at all"

"If you say so Riku. … Do you think that we will be able to find what we are looking for." Riku almost shrugged his shoulders but stopped when he remembered his passengers. Instead he barely shook his head. "I don't know, but if Medusa is controlling the Heartless. Then the keyhole should be near her base." 'I hope' added Riku as an after thought. 'I don't want to make a mistake that will end up killing Lulu and the others.' The rest of the group sat quietly on Riku's shoulders to contemplate how things will turn out if he was wrong.

They traveled for the rest of the hour in silence as the presence of the heartless grew stronger as they came closer and closer to Medusa's location. Riku had to slow his pace so he wouldn't cause much noise that would attract attention. He could see a light appear through the cracks in the trees in front of him. He slowly peaked around a tree to see a sight that almost gasp in surprise. He quickly hid behind the tree and made a shushing motion towards the others. Behind him he could hear and feel hundreds of heartless moving about. Riku lowered his voice as he addressed his companions. "Orville! Why didn't you tell me there were that many heartless here." Orville squawked in indignation "I didn't have time to count all the heartless here. They would have seen me if I tried that!"

"Shut up!" growled Bernard "You guys are being to loud. They will hear us!" Riku and Orville glared at eat other but kept quiet as to not be swarmed by the heartless.

'Stupid bird, didn't think it was important to mention how many heartless their were. Come to think of it, why am I even arguing with a bird. It's an annoying bird, but nevertheless, a bird' Riku shook the thoughts from his head and peaked around the tree again. 'I don't got time for this. I should see if I can sense where the keyhole is.' He saw countless heartless floating around the shack that he assumed Medusa was in. He tried to pear through the window to see if a could catch a glimpse of the keyhole but was unable to see anything. 'Damn, I can't see anything so far away.' He motioned for those on his shoulders to be quiet and slowly circled the camp to get a better view of the shack.

Ten minutes later, a very frustrated Riku was leaning against a tree. 'Where the fuck is it. No matter where I look I can't see or sense where it's at.'

"Of course its there, you're just looking in the wrong spot."

Riku jerked backwards and collided with a tree behind him. "Oh dear, Riku are you okay?" asked Bianca as she steady herself on his shoulder. Riku quickly shook his head and plastered a fake smile on his face. "I'm fine Bianca, I thought of something that surprised me that's all."

"Lying isn't a good thing to do Riku." Mocked the voice inside his head. "That could get you into trouble later."

'Shut up!' Riku pretended to go back to looking at the area around the shack. "Don't worry about anything guys. I just think I may have had idea where the keyhole."

"Oh that's wonderful dear, where do you think it is." Riku paused and racked his brains. 'Shit I should have known they would have wanted to know.'

"Looks like you're in trouble Riku" sneered the voice "I could tell you where it is though. Problem is would you believe me?"

'No' was Riku's initial answer until he caught the expecting faces of those around him. 'Damn, either I follow what he says or I have to tell them I was lying about actually thinking of where it could be.'

"Looks like you fucked either way Riku" cackled the voice. "I'll tell you just so you'll be in my debt. The shack you're so desperately trying to look into doesn't have the keyhole. The boat in front of it does."

'What boat' Riku looked toward the water to see if he could find any boat floating in front of the shack. 'There's nothing there bastard. Did you lie to me just to fuck with me!'

"Look harder dipshit! Its fucking staring you in the face!" yelled the voice in frustration.

Riku continued to stare but couldn't find a boat. 'There's nothing there, just some sunken log.' Riku looked closer and realized his mistake 'That's not a log, it's a sunken boat!'

"Finally, took you forever to realize that! I only hope that once this body is mine that I don't gain any of your stupidity."

'You're not taking me over at all!' Riku turned towards his companions with a serious expression. "Lets get back to Lulu. I think I found out where the keyhole is. I'll tell you guys on the way back." The others nodded their head in understanding and Riku quietly began to make his way away from the shack.

"This is boring. We should just go in there and kill everything!"

'No, go away. I have had enough of you for awhile.' Riku commanded.

"No" came the unexpected reply "You seem to misunderstand the current situation Riku. You can no longer command me. You're stuck with me from now on fool."

Riku suppressed a gasp of surprise 'That's where your wrong! Get the fuck out of my head bastard. This is my body and soul and you don't have any right to be in them.'

"Aw, but you see Riku. I'm no longer just a part of you anymore. I've become a separate being from you entirely. It just happens that I'm unable to leave. That's all. So for now we are friends… no" chuckled the voice "Were closer than that. We are roommates."

Riku gritted his teeth and picked us his march toward his ship. One word summed up all his feelings at this revelation. 'Shit'


	9. Inverted perspective

**AN: **Newest chapter out! This ones is mostly from the view of dark in Riku (Haven't made a name for him yet… but I'm going to use dark for now until I do). In this chapter, we get to finally see how he thinks.

* * *

**Inverted Perspective**

**?**

Dark grinned as he moved away from the conscious part of Riku's mind. It was so much **fun **chipping away at his host's sanity.

Riku, the original key blade wielder, host of the heartless form of the one they called "Ansem", person who "Willingly" fell into the darkness to save his friend, and ended up believing he had **defeated **his dark side. Now, Riku thought he was **safe **from the darkness. He chuckled at the irony of it all.

Oh, how **wrong **Riku was. Riku never **truly **faced the darkness inside himself. The only darkness he ever really faced was the one they called "Ansem". He defeated the darkness that being had brought into his heart. It had absolutely **nothing **to do with his own darkness. "Ansem" had sealed Dark away before he took over Riku. His reawakening was all thanks to Riku's friend Sora. That **foolish **boy thought he had saved Riku from his darkness. All he had done was set it free. Dark grinned, he would have to personally thank him for what he had done.

A prickle in the back of Dark's mind brought him from his current train of thought. He couldn't stop the sense of curiosity he felt at this sensation. Only one being was able to send this kind of feeling down his spine. He looked through Riku's sight to see that he had stumbled into heartless patrolling the swamp. Dark grimaced as Riku hastily summoned his key blade and tried to slay them before they gave them away. What a **fool **his host was… to actually stumbled into heartless. He wouldn't even be alive today if it wasn't for the very darkness that inhabited him today.

He split from Riku's mind and settled onto a dark platform. Oh, he hadn't helped Riku find the keyhole out of the kindness of his heart or even the reason of having him in his dept. All the plans he had and motives began when he had first awaken.

[-]

**:Flashback:**

When he had first gained awareness, he was an incomplete being awash in a sea of darkness. Just the memory of how… **weak **he was made him only more hungry for his time to rule this body. Never again would he be a disembodied soul floating in the forgotten part of Riku's being. Soon he would be the one in control.

He was given the key to his take over of Riku when he had come into contact with the darkness that surrounded the very heartless he fought. All that dark energy pulsating in the air had only hastened his ascent to freedom.

When Sora had tried to seal the keyhole, he had met resistance from the swirling darkness. The glorious destructive surge of exploding and imploding darkness that was triggered had been devoured by Dark. After their little "victory", Riku had fainted from the shock of his birth of the true form of his darkness. They had simply thought he was exhausted. How **wrong** they were. He was able to make first contact with him as he slept and had partially introduced himself. The nightmare, strangely, wasn't his doing.

During his little recovery, meeting with the king, the sick display of their so called "friendship", and his trip to Spira, Dark had been forced to stand on a platform bathed in light with a picture of Riku and his little "friends" around him. It sickened him and he relished the thought of when he would wipe away all that was light.

He didn't have to wait long, as Riku had made his first stop on a heartless invested planet. The very world itself had darkness pulsing through it. Humans didn't seem to able to feel or see it, but he could. He began immediately and channeled that darkness to do his bidding. The very first step Riku had taken in Spira… was the day darkness truly spread its roots through his soul.

Dark had taken great delight in watching as the darkness slowly consumed the platform he stood on. First, there was just a small drop in the center of the platform, but it had slowly began to grow outwards. The puddle covered the center of the platform when Riku had been so helpful as to actually jump into the middle of thousandths of heartless and the swirling water contaminated by darkness. Then the fool had actually set off the same swirling destruction of darkness that had come from the first clash of the key and that dark barrier.

The dark puddle that had be creeping along had become a torrent of dark energy that began to consume the platform. It hungrily devour the light until nothing but the soft glow of dark energy pulsated from everywhere. Dark had begun laughing at the sight. Dare he say that it was one of the… happiest times of his life? Immediately, he had tried and control Riku by telling him to kill the woman before him. That act alone would make it to where Riku would ceased to exist and he would began to truly rule. However, his "happy" moment was soon destroyed when Riku wretched control from him.

'**Why?**' Was the first thought that had come to his socked mind. Next, came a wave of rage that consumed him. The platform shook as he last out with his powers.

'**How is he able to keep control! I should be the one ruling this body now! It is my darkness that fills this world!**' His mindless rant was disrupted when he saw a ray of light briefly flash before disappearing. He stood in confusion, 'Light?' he searched the part of the platform that he believed it originated from. Now that he looked carefully, there was many flashes of light coming through cracks he hadn't noticed before. He kneeled down on the platform and peered through one of the cracks that was letting light through.

He stared at the sight before him and began to chuckle. 'I see' He fell back and landed on his but with relief. There was nothing wrong with his darkness. He just hadn't fully destroyed the light that was Riku. While it was true that darkness covered the platform and swirled around it, beneath it laid a pool of light that had survived.

'I shouldn't be surprised' he thought 'Light is just as hard to destroy as darkness is. Neither have been known to be easily destroyed.' Suddenly, he felt the Riku's consciousness disappear. He began to frantically search for the reason behind this disturbing change. He growled when he found the problem. The stupid **fool** had gotten himself injured and had almost killed the both of them! 'He must not rule this world much longer.'

[-]

Over the next two weeks, he had balanced the task of healing his body and slowly eroded away at the pool of light. At the end of the second week, no more light could be seen through his layer of darkness. It was still there, but weaker than before. The problem was, it was taking to long! He growled in irritation and paced back and forth trying to think of an idea. He paused when he felt Riku awaken. Seems that I have healed enough of his wounds for him to finally recover enough to be conscious… lets see just serious it really was.

He merged into Riku's mind to see what damaged had been done to his "body". The sight he saw made him want to tear "someone" into tiny bits. His "body" was covered in bandages with signs of dried blood. He did not know that the wounds were this serious! He had only used the bare minimum of his power in healing Riku. Of course he couldn't really blame himself. He had yet to gain enough control to fully control the body to awaken it from sleep. So there was no way he could have known it was this serious. 'Although, I was starting to wonder why it was taking him so long to wake up.' He could almost feel the sweat drop a person got from doing something or seeing something stupid he had seen in Riku's books. Not that he was reading them or anything… .

The next four days, he had put most of his energy into healing his body and barely even fiddled with destroying the light. He could always finish it later, his body however couldn't be so easily put aside.

Riku's attitude throughout the healing processed infuriated the Dark. How dare he complain about boredom when he was pampered with food, clothes, medicine, books, and an occasional companion. Did he know that he was only alive because of the darkness he feared so much. That the very thing he thought destroyed was working overtime to save them. No! He simply took everything for granted and complained how long it took for him to heal. The idiot didn't even realize that he would have **died** if he was a normal human. 'I'm going to enjoy destroying you later.' Dark couldn't help but smile at the thought. Yes, he would definitely enjoy it.

[-]

With Riku's full recovery, Dark was surprised to find himself tired. 'It seems that I am not as strong as I originally thought'. He frowned at this new revelation 'dam'.

So once again his takeover was put on hold as he recovered from his time of healing Riku. He had nothing better to do then watch as Riku went through his whole faze of should I go or should I stay. 'Boring' was his most prominent thought during those two days. He was, dare he say,… ecstatic when Riku actually made up his dam mind to go. 'Finally, I don't have to listen to him arguing with himself.'

Halfway through the festival, Dark was going to go insane if he had to watch one more love sick couple walk by or see a happy family eating together. The final push was when Riku began to daydream about having a "peaceful" time when he returned to destiny island. 'He needs to get a dose of reality.' He grinned at the thought. 'Finally something fun to do.'

Dark broke into Riku's thoughts. "Is that really true Riku? Have you really ever felt peace at that place you call home?" The denials that resulted from his simply sentence had turned the conversation into a battle of who's right and who's wrong. Soon, Dark tired of Riku. "The only one you are betraying is yourself. By all my means return to your friends. They should make it much easier in dealing with you." He then retreated from Riku's thoughts, ignoring Riku as he asked Dark what he meant. 'Blind Fool'

The only good thing that had come from their argument was Riku deciding to leave earlier than planned. 'Fine with me' thought Dark 'This world can no longer help with my awakening. I need more darkness to feed on if I'm to truly rule this body.'

:End Flashback:

[-]

Now he was here on this glorious planet! The longer it took Riku to close the path, the more control he gained. They were now equals in his body. No longer could Riku keep Dark locked away in the back of his mind. Now all he needed was one more dose of the dark key holes reaction with Riku's key blade. Then he would crush Riku's very being.

Dark's walk down memory lane and future planning was interrupted when he felt pain shoot through Riku's mind. 'Are we under attack?' Dark quickly reconnected with Riku's mind and was amused at the sight before him. It seemed that Lulu had repaid Riku for sticking her with babysitting duty.

Riku was rubbing his head where a bump could be seen rising. He was apologizing profusely to Lulu in hopes she wouldn't hit him again. Luckily Lulu seemed to accept his apologies and began to ask about what he found out. Dark watched as Riku began to explain to Lulu about where the keyhole was.

Dark gave a sad sigh as he watched the images before him. 'Riku do you even realize how much you are enjoying yourself. It's been so long since I have felt such happiness and satisfaction in your life.' He turned away from the image and returned back to his resting place atop the platform. 'You have what you wished for. How long have you wished to see others places besides your island. Now your are fulfilling your wish through your own power but your to afraid to accept that. I will not go back to the way things were before!'

Dark laid back and raised his arm towards the swirling darkness above him. 'You will not go back to the way you were. Always daydreaming about leaving. Spending hours on end looking out to sea and wishing for new sights. Sure you wished was twisted and your soul bent towards evil of another. Yet, you still wished for freedom. Now after all that hard work to survive, you are to afraid to grasp that dream once again! Your thoughts about finding peace on the islands is unforgivable. I will not waste away while I watch you live a pathetic life!"

The darkness surrounding the platform began to twist and turn in furious waves. Dark rose with his arm still reaching towards the sky of darkness above. 'Soon, it will be I who will see the blue sky above. Soon, it will be me who will control this body. Soon, I will live the dream you are to afraid to live.' Dark grinned with anticipation, '**Soon…**'

* * *

**AN:** Hoped you liked Dark. I really don't know how I'm going to continue this story. I guess ill just think on it.

Review if you have problems with it, have questions, or just like it a lot.


	10. Unexpected Ends

AN: {person} means POV change to said person. Sorry had to make this up so story wouldn't be so confusing at one point in this chapter. Plus, this is a huge chapter. I tried to shorten it s much as I could, but it still to long for my liking.

**Unexpected Ends**

* * *

**Breaking Dawn - Cockpit**

Riku laid his head against the seat and looked at the stars through the pilot's window. The plan to destroy the heartless and seal the keyhole was finally finished. Now all he had to wait for was the next day to come. Riku shifted his head to stare at the person sitting beside him in the copilot seat. Lulu face was oddly relaxed as she rested in her chair. Her eyes were closed and her face was set in a peaceful expression.

'Even after knowing about the danger we'll face tomorrow, she is still so relaxed.' Riku returned to staring at the stars 'While I can't relax or sleep. Between the mission to seal the final keyholes and the voice in my head, I'm to troubled to relax. I just hope that everyone else is fine and doing better than I am.'

"Of course their doing fine Riku. After all, Sora and Mickey are stronger than you in many ways." Riku frowned as he once again heard the voice in his head. ' What do you mean Sora is stronger than me in more than one way.'

"Figure it out on your own Riku. Just be happy that you have friends who don't needlessly worry over everything. You do that enough by yourself."

'I don't know if your insulting me or trying to comfort me, but I really don't need this right now. I can't have you messing with my head right now.'

"You should take a pointer or two from Lulu about relaxing if your so tense about tomorrow's fight. Kind of makes me embarrassed for me to be a part of you."

'Since when did you start giving out complements?'

"Since we stopped talking about you. Now, hurry up and talk to her… I'm tired of all your depressing thoughts floating around in here."

'Anything to make you quiet again, and I'm not depressed!' Riku stood up and walked over to Lulu. "Hey Lulu, you awake?"

Lulu cracked her open at Riku "No, now go away." Riku could hear howls of laughter coming from the voice in his head. "Still mad about me ditching you? I already said I was sorry, and you already got a hit or two in!" Lulu stared silently at Riku for a few moments before sitting up. "Fine…"

" Look at her… sulking like… that… it's… so funny!"

'You okay in there, you sound kind of out of breath.'

"I'm… alright… I just find… it amusing that someone… who thinks themselves the most mature in the group is sulking."

"So what was it you wanted to talk about?" Riku focus was diverted back to Lulu 'I really need to stop spacing out every time I talk to him.' Riku chuckled awkwardly "Sorry, I spaced out for a sec. I wanted to ask you how you can stay so calm. I mean tomorrow we could get hurt or worse."

"Oh, is that all you wanted to know? It's quite simple… I have nothing to lose besides my life." Riku could only gap at Lulu. " Wh- what do you mean you have nothing else to lose." Lulu merely shrugged and settled back into her chair. "Everyone I know from my home is dead or gone. The only people I know now are you and Gippal. Gippal and I could never be friends since we lead to different of a life. Plus, he may never find out I died since I'm no longer on the same planet as him." She turned her head towards Riku. "As for you… I could say were friends. However, I know that there is a chance we will both die tomorrow or live. There is also a chance one of us will die. I know that you could continue on your quest if I died." She held up a hand as Riku tried to deny what she had said. " Don't lie… I know as well as you do that you would continue on without me. You have many important people you wish to protect. If you had to choose between me or Sora, I would already know who you would want to live."

Riku could merely nod his head in agreement. Yes, he did care for Lulu, but Sora and the others were his life. They were the very reason he was alive today. "I understand Lulu, but I would still be sad if you died. You may not be one of my important people, but you are still my friend." Lulu smiled at Riku " I know Riku, but it still doesn't change what we know to be true." Lulu relaxed and closed her eyes. "Get some sleep Riku, we need to be fully prepared for tomorrow. Hopefully, nothing bad will happen." Riku frowned but went back to his chair. "Okay Lulu…"

"Gah! That didn't help at all. Now you're more depressed than before!"

'Can't really help it. Lulu acts like she doesn't care if she dies. What could happen to make a person like that?'

"It's none of our business Riku. Even if it were, staying up all night will only cause problems for everybody. Now get out of your fucking emo ass mood and go to sleep."

'You know, I think in your own little way that you do care. Why else would you be trying to help me sleep and respect Lulu's wishes. Doesn't sound very evil to me, and I thought you would be trying to get us killed.'

"Where did you get such a ridiculous idea! I just don't want to deal with your whining or depressing thoughts anymore. As for Lulu, she can decide what to do with her own life. We have no say in what she thinks, feels, or does. Finally, yes I don't want you to die. However, the reason is not from caring for you but from the fact that if you die physically, I die as well. So destroy any illusions you made about me being that type of person and go to sleep!"

'Whatever you say…' Riku closed his eyes 'Well let see if I can get some sleep.'

[-]

**Inner world**

Dark quietly contemplated over what Riku had said. Did he really come across as caring? He shook his head to dislodge the thought. There was no way that he cared about Riku. He still wanted to kill him and take control of his body. As for respecting Lulu… he was surprised to find out he did. But did respecting her mean he also cared? No, not really… he wouldn't like if she died but he wouldn't be sad if she did.

Dark laughed, since when did his feelings change. At Spira, he had actually tried to kill Lulu to gain control. Now, he didn't want to kill her but didn't want to save her either. Now that he thought about it, when he had first awoken, he had wanted to pretty much kill everyone. So who else did he not want to kill now? Well, Lulu was safe and so was penny. He scoffed, like he would ever take pleasure in slaughtering children. Hmm, king Mickey would be safe since he didn't really hate the guy. And… that was about it, the rest of the people Riku knew would die if they ever crossed him. His annoying friends Sora, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy would all die if they tried to stop him.

Wait… was he making a list of people he cared for or didn't hate? Dark was confused about what he felt for the first time in his life. Where were this feelings coming from anyways. He wasn't born with them that he knew. He would have had no problem with killing anybody, even children, when he first awoke. So if he wasn't born with them… where had he acquired them from?

'Maybe… they are connected to the strange changes that had been occurring in this world.' Dark fazed out of Riku's mindscape and appeared above the platform in his inner world. Dark's aura still surrounded the platform and the steady pulse could still be felt emanating from it. However, his aura was no longer raging around the platform. It now calmly flowed in lazy arcs. Underneath it all, Dark could feel that the platform was changing but into what he didn't know. The strangest changed had been when Dark had realized his aura was changing color! No longer was it pitch black but a very dark blue color. Even now he could see that it was lighter than what is was before he left to talk to Riku. 'I only hope that these changes do not effect me to much.'

[-]

**Breaking Dawn - kitchen - Morning**

Everyone had gathered in the kitchen to eat breakfast. The upcoming battle pressed heavily on everyone's mind. Penny played with her food while pouting. 'Why can't I help them? I know I'm just a kid, but I should be able help them at least a little.' She looked around the table at the people she considered her friends now. 'All of them will be in danger, and all I can do is sit and wait.' She sighed and went back to playing with her food. ' It's not fair.'

Across from penny sat Riku as he stared at his food. 'I'm tired… didn't get much sleep last night. Not really that hungry either.' Riku gave a slight shake of his head. 'No, I need to eat and be fully prepared for the fight later.' He speared some eggs with his fork and began to eat. 'Bleh, this eggs taste awful. Who made them?'

Lulu sat beside Riku and calmly ate her breakfast. She noticed how Penny wasn't eating but was instead playing with her food with a frown on her face. 'Looks like she doesn't approve of being told to wait here in the ship. I can understand her feelings but she must understand that the best thing she can do for us is to stay safe.' A slight gagging sound brought her attention to Riku. He looked fine, but she could she the strain he was enduring while eating his food. Lulu frowned at the sight. 'Am I really that bad of a cook?'

The clatter of silver wear brought everyone's attention to Penny. Penny was standing up with a determined face "Please let me help, I don't want to sit here while you guys are in danger!"

"No" was Lulu's answer "We've gone over this before, you have to stay here." She pinned the others with a look "Right?" Riku and the others hastily nodded in agreement. "But that's not fair!" cried Penny. "Doesn't matter if it's fair or not. It's what's best for everyone that matters." replied Lulu. So the breakfast that had started out so quietly, erupted into a arguing match between Lulu and Penny.

"Tell those assholes to shut the fuck up!"

Riku twitched when he felt the invasion of his mind. 'I don't need you coming out of nowhere and cussing right now. I'm tired enough as it is and those two are not helping.'

"Shut up! You can't possible be feeling worse then me right now. My head feels like it's going to explode and my body aches all over? Why the hell am I feeling like this while you are only a little tired?"

Riku mentally shrugged his shoulders. 'I don't know, but I would appreciate it if you didn't give me a headache too. Just don't bother me when we're on the mission about it or we could end up dead.'

"You really don't feel any different? Maybe the changes in here are only effecting me… that sucks! Ugh, I think I'm going to throw up… I need to go lay down."

'That's disgusting! Don't you dare throw up inside of me!' Silence was all that answered Riku's thoughts 'You listening? Hey!' Still no answer came. 'Damn it, he better not throw up in me or I really will start feeling sick.' He paused for a sec as he mind settled down from the gross image of the voice throwing up inside of him. 'He said something about changes. What did he mean by that? Hey, you better not be messing with anything inside of me!' As before, silence was his only answer. 'Can this get any worse.'

His question was answered when Penny burst into tears from losing the argument. Bianca and Bernard went to work trying to calm the child. His eye twitched as he felt a headache forming. 'Guess it can.'

[-]

**Near Sunken Ship/shack**

Riku leaned heavily against a tree and tried to regain some strength. The moment he had left the ship, the tired feeling had grown worse. Now his entire body felt weighted down and his body began to ache from him forcing it to move. To make things even worse, the headache that had been forming had turned into a full blown migraine. He had kept his deteriorating health hidden from the others. He had felt relief when they had finally split up to enact their plan. Now he could rest and try to regain strength until it was time for him to act.

The plan was actually quite simple. Lulu and the others would distract Medusa and most of the heartless while Riku would sneak unto the ship and seal the Keyhole. At first he didn't think they would fall for it until Penny had told them Medusa was chasing her because of the treasure she had hidden. So Lulu had decided to draw her out by using the treasure. He only hoped he had enough strength to close the keyhole and send all the heartless back before his friends got hurt. If anything came out of the keyhole like the others when he sealed them, then he could only hope he lasted long enough for his friends to come to his aid.

The bright flash of Lulu's fire spell announced the beginning of the mission as she set the sack on fire. Riku couldn't stop from laughing 'She going a little overboard.' He could hear medusa screaming at the heartless to go attack them. Lulu stepped out into the open and raised the skull above her head. "Hey bitch, looking for this?" and sent another fire spell to crash into her base. When medusa saw the treasure she had become furious and starting screaming to her "partner" to go after them. The heartless responded to her feelings and began to swarm towards Lulu and the others. She retreated into the swamp with the heartless and medusa right behind her.

Riku waited till the close was clear before he slowly stood. He began to swim/wad towards the ship as fast as his tired body would go. 'Please body, hold out till this is over.'

[-]

**Breaking Dawn- cockpit**

Penny sat curled up in the pilot seat as she hugged her bear close. It had been almost an hour since Riku and the others left. 'Were they alright? Had something bad happen? When would they return… if they returned?' These questions plagued the normally cheerful Penny. She had few friends and they were now all in danger. Tears started to slide down her face. 'I don't want to lose them… I don't want to be alone.' She hugged her bear closer. If only she wasn't so weak.

She was brought out of her depressing thoughts when a beeping noise began to sound from the flight panel. She leaned forward, curious as to why and where the sound was coming from. She spotted a screen that had a flashing dot that seemed to moving closer and closer to the center. She touched the screen curiously. 'What does this do and why is it flashing?' Her mussing was cut short when she heard a dull roar. 'What's that sound?' She looked around scared hoping that whatever was making that noise hadn't made its way inside the ship. The noise grew louder and closer while she began to feel the ship shake a little from the sound. She held on to the chair as the shaking grew worse. Suddenly another ship flew over the Breaking Dawn and landed in front of it.

When Penny felt the ship settle and her ears stop ringing, she cautiously poked her ahead above the console to catch a glimpse of the new ship. It seemed to be a little bigger than Riku's and definitely a lot louder. She continued to examine the ship until the hatch opened up to reveal the people inside. Penny crouched down even lower until she could barely see over the console. 'Who are they'.

She watched them as they stepped out of the ship. First came a boy who seemed a little younger than Riku. He wore black shorts, a black jacket, and had light brown hair. She couldn't clearly see his eyes from where she was and wasn't about to try to move to a better spot. Next came a girl with pink clothes, red hair, and seemed to be happy to get off the ship. Next came a tall person with a green vest with brown pants, a shield strapped on his back, and dog… ears and… nose? She squinted at the person to see if she wasn't seeing things. Yep, he defiantly had dog ears and nose. The next person to step of the ship made Penny squeal in delight. Before her eyes was a cute little ducky dressed up in a blue jacket, blue cap, and was holding a cute little staff. She giggled as she saw him waddle towards the others.

Her giggling stopped when she noticed the group had begun to walk towards Riku's ship. She panicked let a small eep and ducked underneath the console to hide. 'Why am I hiding?' Penny paused in her panicking. 'I can't let them take Riku's ship.' She hesitated for a sec then slowly began to crawl out of her hiding spot.

'_But what can you do?_'

She paused when that question had appeared in her mind. 'I don't know… but I have to try.'

'_And if you fail?'_

Penny crawled the rest of the way out and stood up 'I won't! I'll protect this ship so my friends will have a place to return to! And I'll be here to welcome them home.'

Voices from outside the cockpit door told her that they had already made their way in. The door began to shake as they tried to open it. Penny Looked around for anything she could throw or fight with. Nothing, nothing was there for her to fight with. She turned back towards the door that was now shacking violently. She could hear the people on the other side arguing and some pushing and shoving going on. Suddenly the door opened and three figures fell into the cockpit in a tangle up pile.

Seeing the intruders in front of her with nothing but her teddy bear for a weapon. Penny did the only thing she could do. She began to hit the brown headed boy in the head with her bear. "Leave Riku's ship alone. You can't have it!" Penny was surprised when she heard someone giggling. She stopped hitting the boy to turn towards the sound. The red haired girl was leaning against the wall and giggling so hard that she was pink in the face. 'What's she laughing about?'

{Kairi}

She was having trouble breathing as she watched the show before her. She had not expected this to happen when Sora had the bright idea to help Riku out since they were already done with there part. Donald and Goofy had wanted to help the king but Kairi had sided with Sora since she wanted to see if Riku was okay. Out of three teams, he was the slowest of them all. He had only sealed one keyhole while Sora had sealed all three with the king working on his last one. Sora had contacted the king and got the name of the world Riku was currently on.

They had spent three days in the space ship! She was ecstatic when they had spotted their destination. Sora located Riku's ship with the radar and had landed near it. They had gotten in without any problems but ran into trouble at the door to the cockpit. Somehow it was stuck and Sora and the others began to argue over how to open it. Each one had tried to get to the door which resulted in them barreling through it in a giant tangle of limbs. The funny sight had become to much when a little girl came out of nowhere to hit Sora in the head with a teddy bear! She began laughing so hard that she had to lean against the wall to stay standing.

{normal}

Everyone stared at Kairi with mixed expressions. Penny had a confused look on her face, Sora had an embarrassed face, Goofy was chuckling, and Donald had an indignant face. "Get off of me Goofy, Sora!" squawked Donald as he tried to squeeze out from underneath them. "Gawrsh, sorry about that Donald." Said Goofy.

While the trio were untangling themselves, Kairi had finished laughing and had walked up to the confused Penny. She knelt down to get a better look at her and smiled. "Hello there, my names Kairi. What's your name?" Penny stared at the girl before her and after a few seconds, slowly lowered her teddy bear. "Penny" she whispered.

"That's a cute name." said Kairi then turned towards the others who were now standing behind looking embarrassed. She pointed at Donald. "That's Donald" Donald half waved to Penny. "Besides him is Goofy" Goofy had a full blown wave with a smile "ah-hyuck, Hello there Penny." Then Kairi pointed towards the last of them. "And the one you hit with you teddy bear is Sora" Sora waved while looking even more embarrassed about the said incident. "Hello penny."

"Now you seem to think we here to steal from Riku, but believe me when I say were not. Instead we're here to help him." Penny looked at Kairi with a curious face " You know Riku?" Kairi nodded her head with a big smile. "Were his friends after all." Penny felt relief flow through her as she was told this. She suddenly fell on her but as the adrenaline and tension left her body. "Are you okay?" asked a worried Kairi as she check to see if the girl was injured. "I'm fine Ms. Kairi. I'm just a little tired."

Penny really was tired. The stress, arguing, worry, fear, excitement, and relief she had gone through today had drained the poor girl. "So you guys are going to help Riku?" Kairi nodded "That's right!" Penny felt hope for the first time that day. 'Maybe I can be useful to Riku and Lulu.' She looked at the group before her. 'I'll tell them everything and lead them to my friends.' Penny smiled for the first time that day as she prepared to tell them what was happening. 'I can help my friends'

[-]

Lulu was tired, angry, and most of all, annoyed. She had been leading around these dam heartless for thirty minutes now. 'Just how long is it going to take you Riku?' She turned and shot another barrage of fire into the ranks of heartless behind her. 'I can't keep this up forever' "Lulu this way!" Lulu turned to follow Orville, Bernard, and Bianca as they flew off towards a patch of trees.

They had been really helpful in making it easier for her to evade the heartless. They had a bird's eye view of the land around them and could lead her to perfect spots she could block with her magic to create some distance. From using ice to block the advance of the heartless to luring them into overgrown area that impeded their movement. If she was lucky, she was sometimes able to set fire to the growth and create a blazing barrier that they had to go around.

Still she couldn't keep this up forever. She was already starting to feel the drain from using so much magic without rest. She entered the trees and followed Orville as he led her through the maze of vines, bushes, and trees. Once she reached the other side, she turned around and cast yet another fire spell to set the path on fire. "Thanks Orville, this should gives Riku some more time to find the keyhole."

"Ms. Lulu, are you alright?" Asked a concern Bianca "You must be getting tired. We led them far enough away that it will take them some time to return. Maybe we should run away while we have a chance to."

"We don't know for sure if Riku will be able to seal the keyhole before they made it back. It's best if we continue to give Riku as much time as we can." Bianca looked worried but merely nodded. "If you say so Lulu."

"Lets continue, make sure to keep an eye out for any more areas we could use and any traps the heartless have set up."

"I'm afraid dear, that your running stops here." Lulu turned around to see Medusa standing on a fallen tree surrounded by hundreds of heartless. "Where did you come from?"

Medusa merely laughed "I've lived is this swamp for years trying to find that treasure you have. You think you can run away from me in a place I know so well? Now, give me the treasure!"

"No" said Lulu "This treasure will never be yours."

"My are we not the brave one." Medusa waved her hands around as if to show off her army of Heartless. "I don't think you quite realize what position your in."

"I know only to well what the ending will be most likely be." said Lulu as she watched the heartless that were previously slowed down by her trap join up with Medusa's army. She turned towards Orville and the others. "Orville I want you and the others to go back to the ship." They stared at Lulu in shock. "Ms. Lulu you can't us to abandon you!"

"I'm not telling you to abandon me. I'm telling you to live and go get help. Besides, we both know you guys can't fight."

"But Ms. Lulu we can-"

"Go… please just trust me and go find the others. I'll be here when you come back… I promise." Orville was torn between running away and wanting to stay. "Do what she said Orville."

"Bernard! You can't mean to leave Lulu here alone!"

"And what can we do here Bianca? The best we can do is get help… please try and understand… we can do nothing more for her." Bianca looked like she wanted to disagree but stopped when she saw Lulu's expression. "I… understand Lulu, please stay alive till we come back."

Lulu gave them a grateful look "Thank you for understanding… now hurry and return to the ship. Fly as fast as you can Orville and don't look back." Orville spread his wings and zoomed away. " You better be alive when we come back." yelled Orville as he flew away.

Lulu waved at them as they disappeared behind in the distance. "I will be"

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep girl. What do you think you can do against all these heartless. I will admit you are strong, but no human can defeat this many alone. Telling your friends to run will only save them for now, but they will die when we next meet."

"It's true that I told them to run away so that they would live. It wasn't because of you that I told them to run. It was because of me that I feared for their lives."

"What do you mean girl? Are you saying that they have more to fear from you than these heartless that surround you?"

"You see, everyone sees magic as an ability or blessing that is useful. I… see my magic as a curse. The magic I possess is much to strong for me to fully control. That's why I wanted them to run. So I don't kill them as well."

"Do you expect me to believe that you hold magic strong enough to kill the hundreds of heartless that surround you now?" Medusa cackled "What an amusing bluff you have created. All this just to save your friends from dieing with you."

Lulu ignored her "With this spell that has killed many." Her moogle doll slid from her grasp and floated down to stand on the water's surface. Its eyes focused on Medusa and it stared lifelessly at her. "With this spell I used to kill my most… precious person." Orange and red waves of energy formed around Lulu as she gathered her power. "With this spell… I will never make the same mistake again." She extended her arm towards Medusa. "Overdrive: Fury Mode… Ultima."

**Some distance away**

Orville was flying as fast as he could back towards the ship while Bianca and Bernard were having a conversation. "Oh, Bernard, do you really think she'll be alright?" Bernard patted Bianca on the shoulder "Of course she will… she did promise after all." Bianca still looked unconvinced. "I know she promised… but I'm sti-" She was silenced when a purple flash spread out from behind them. Bianca looked back towards the light "What was th-" her sentenced was interrupted when the sound of the explosion finally reached them. Seconds later strong winds tore at Orville as he tried to stay afloat. Another flash appeared in the distance followed by a second boom and more wind.

"Orville" yelled Bernard "We have to land now or were going to be torn from the sky." Orville quickly right himself as another flash went off in the distance. He plummeted into a patch of trees before the next wave of wind reached them.

"What's going on back there?" yelled Orville

"I don't know!" yelled Bernard

They took shelter in the trees as flash after flash and wave after wave of air past them. After the seven flash, there was one final huge one that light up the entire sky purple. The sound of the explosion was deafening and the force of the winds uprooted the very trees around them. After what felt like hours, the winds died down and silence hung heavy in the air. "Is it over?" asked a shaken Bianca. " I think so." answered Bernard

They flew back up into the sky and gasped at the previous swampy lands that used to be behind them. What was once swamp was now nothing but eight huge craters. "What could have done this" asked a horrified Bianca. She turned to Bernard "We have to go back. Lulu is there!"

"We can't" said Bernard "If we went back, what could we do. We're not strong enough to carry her, we can't fight if we run into heartless, and we have ability or supplies to heal her. The best thing we can do is go back to the ship and get help and supplies."

"But" said Bianca but was interrupted by Orville as he agreed with Bernard. "There's nothing we can do about this Bianca. We can only hope she will live long enough for us to come back for her."

"That could take to long! What if we arrive to late to help her!"

"Bianca… I know this is hard for you. But it's the only choice we have."

"maybe not" said Orville " Look down there!" They looked down to see Penny waving at them from the ground with a group of people.

"What is she doing out here! And who are those people!" asked an upset Bianca.

"Now calm down Bianca. I'm sure Penny has a good explanation for all this. Plus, I'm sure Penny wouldn't be with them if she didn't trust them. They may also be able to help Lulu." said Bernard as he studied the group below him. Orville flew down and landed on Penny's shoulder. "Penny something terrible has happened!"

[-]

**Sunken Boat**

Riku gasped for breath as he laid sprawled on the floor in agonizing pain. The pain had worsened with each step he had taken towards the boat. Now that he was actually in it, he could barely even move. 'How long has it been?' Riku had no way of knowing how much time had pasted as he had crawled through the boat to end up laying before the captains room. 'Inside… its inside here.' was Riku's scattered thoughts. He couldn't muster the strength to stand up but was lucky to find out he didn't need to. The environment here had rotted away the wooden door to where he was able to push it open from where he laid.

The pain intensified when he came face to face with the keyhole. He bit back a cry and crawled into the room.

"Riku" came a pained filled voice "We must get away from the keyhole."

'I can't… Lulu and the others… are in danger. I have to… seal the keyhole'

"You can't… just think what would happen to us… if your powers actually came into contact with the keyhole. It… could kill us. Just being this close… is almost enough to kill us"

Riku summoned his key blade and gathered his power. 'I don't care… I won't run away and allow my friends to die.'

"You…fool!"

He fired his power the keyhole and forced it shut. The keyhole exploded like its predecessors before it and began to absorb all the heartless in the area. Riku took little notice of what was happening as he felt something tear inside of him. An agonizing scream ripped from Riku that was both his and Dark's. Their screams intensified as they felt the tear grow larger.

Their misery was ended when the new heartless burst from the twisting darkness and caused it to explode. The ship was torn apart and Riku's body was sent flying through the air like a rag doll. He slammed into a tree and skidded downs its bark to sink into the waters below. Riku's last sight was of the murky water blocking out the sun as he sank below the surface.

As Riku sank into the water, the heartless rose from the wreckage of the ship. It towered above the trees and swayed its scaly tail. It roared as it dropped down onto its four legs. A giant black crocodile was born. Its eyes focused off into the distance. Hearts… were nearby and it was hungry. It slithered off into the distance, leaving only ruins behind it.

* * *

**AN: **Longest chapter I have ever written! This chapter was hard to write because I had to set up for the meeting between everyone. Couldn't really find a good spot either… all well.


	11. Hearts Battle

**A Heart's Battle**

**?**

… Riku slowly regained consciousness . He was surrounded by a heavy silence. He cracked his eyes open and saw nothing but darkness around him. 'Where am I?' Was Riku's initial thought as he scanned the area for signs of life. 'What's going on here?'

Suddenly he felt himself falling straight down through the darkness. He frantically reached at his hands to try and stop his descent but found nothing to slow his fall down but more darkness. 'What's happening!'

His descent was caught off as his back slammed into a solid ground and Riku let loose a silence scream of pain as all the air left his lungs from the impact. He laid on the object he crashed into and tried to regain his breath while he waited for the pain to fade. 'What did I hit?' He gingerly lifted himself off the ground and looked down to see that he was standing on a black object. 'What is this?' He stared it as he tried to figure out what it was but stopped when he noticed his surroundings.

All around him were dozens maybe even hundreds of similar objects floating around. Some ,he noticed, had dark blue liquid flowing down from them and fell into the darkness below. 'What is that? Is it water or something else?' He noticed two of the object crash into each other beside him and he cringed as he waited for the sound of the collision to reach him.

… Silence was all that he heard. He looked at the area where they collided in confusion. 'Where did the sound go. In fact, why isn't there any sound at all?' There was no sound when he collided with the object, no sound from the object colliding, and no sound from the strange liquid as it flowed around him.

"I see you have finally realize something's wrong here." Riku looked around to see where the voice was coming from. "Where are you!" yelled Riku, or would have if the sound had actually come out of his mouth. Riku grasped his throat in surprise. "What's going on here" Riku tried to question the voice but failed as his new muteness kept him from speaking. "I see you also found out you can't talk either. But I already know what your trying to ask. I'll answer your questions once you get your ass over here."

"Where" Riku tried to ask. Silence was all that answered him. He looked around helplessly until he saw a glowing light in the distance. 'Is that where he is?' thought Riku. "Yep, you found me!" Riku stiffened in surprise. 'How did you know what I was thinking?' He received no answer to his question. Riku sighed before he began to jump from object to object towards the distance light. 'What in the world is happening' He heard snickering in his head. "Something you are not going to like." Riku blinked at the intrusion in his mind. 'What do you mean?' Silence once again was the voice's reply.

[-]

**Swamp- Devastated Swampland**

Sora looked at the devastated swampland before him. "What happened here?" he said in disbelief. Before him was multiple scorched craters that were quickly being filled up with water. "Did the heartless do this?" He looked at the others and only received similar looks of confusion and worry.

"Oh dear, do you think Lulu is okay?" asked Bianca. The question snapped the group out of their thoughts and they began to search around for signs of Lulu. Orville, Bianca, and Bernard circled over head as they tried to catch a glimpse of her. Penny and Kairi searched around the craters to see if she was inside one of them. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were given the job of shifting through the trees along the edge of the clearing to see if she was buried underneath them.

"One, two, three push!" yelled Sora as him, Donald, and Goofy strained to push off of a others. With a groaning sound and snaping branches it fell over to reveal a blackened corpse. Sora and the others jumped back in surprise.

"Gawrsh, you don't think that's Lulu."

"I don't know, but I sure hope not. Riku wouldn't be very happy if he comes back to find Lulu dead." Sora said as he tried to get a close look at the corpse while not actually touching it.

"Maybe it's Medusa!" said Donald as he tried to raise the others spirits.

Goofy caught on what he was doing and hastily agreed. "Donald is right Sora! There is plenty of other places we haven't checked yet. I'm sure that Lulu is just fine and Riku won't have anything to worry about when he returns."

That's about where things usually go wrong in people's life. Right when they think things are going to be okay and bam! The world takes a sledge hammer to their face and laughs. This time was no different.

**Boom! Crash! Roar!**

Sora and the others got a front row seat as a the crocodile heartless from before came busting through the trees and into the burnt wetland. Now Sora not only had to worry about Lulu, but had to fight one of the biggest heartless he had ever seen.

[-]

**Ruined Platform**

Riku felt both relieved and annoyed as he landed on the last platform insight. Relieved because he was finally done jumping around and annoyed because he hadn't gotten any other answers or replies form the voice. "Well I'm here, where are you and it's about time you start explaining what's going on!"

Movement to his right revealed another boy sitting on a overturned pillar. "Yo!" said the boy as he smiled at him and waved. "Finally made it here. Took you forever though, I think my but fell asleep while I was waiting."

Riku was at a loss and a little confused as the boy continued to ramble on about how slow he was and him having to stretch to wake himself up again. He would have probably been insulted if his brain wasn't trying to piece together what he was seeing. Before him was the mysterious voice that had hunted his dreams, took over his body, and had refused to ever answer any question he asked fully. The voice that belonged to a boy who looked exactly like him.

"What in the hell are you staring out!"

Caught off guard, Riku answered what he was thinking at the moment. "Me." The change in the boy's stance instantly alerted him that he just did something stupid.

"You better watch what you say." The boy's eyes flashed dangerously. "Or we can start fighting right now."

"You can't blame me for being surprised when I finally see you and you look like me."

"I don't look exactly like you!" He pointed at pointed at his face. "See I got different colored eyes and hair." He kept emphasizing the traits in over exaggerated motions.

Riku felt his eye twitch. Sure now that he pointed it out his eyes were a darker blue and his hair was closer to an ash color. "Still everything else is exactly the same! You can't even notice the other difference unless you're up close!"

The boy sighed as he gave Riku a hopeless look. "Should have known you would be to thick headed to realize the importance of this."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Anyways!" said the boy as he ignored Riku's question. "I'm tired of sitting here on my ass and staring at all this empty space! Lets start fighting now so I can get on with my life!"

Riku had enough of the boy's random attitude changes and unwillingness to answer his questions. "No! You owe me an explanation for all this shit you put me through." Riku glared at the boy daring him to say no.

"hmm… Okay." 

Riku nearly face planted at how easy he had given in. "What the hell! All the other times I asked you for some explanations you were dead set on not telling me anything. Now you simply say 'Okay'."

"Geez, I thought you would be happy about me actually explaining things but apparently not." The boy sat down with a amused smile on his face. "You might want to sit down for this. It might take awhile."

[-]

**Swamp- Near Devastated Land**

Things were not going great for Sora and the others. He jumped aside as a giant tail flattened the area he was previously at. A giant Heartless just had to come in the middle of their search and make it even harder to find Lulu. He had Kairi take Penny to a safe distance as they went to face the creature. Penny hadn't gone quietly as she kept saying she couldn't leave without Lulu as she was dragged away.

He flinched as the heartless crushed another pile of trees in its mad rampage as it tried to flatten Goofy as he ran around it. He hopped Lulu wasn't underneath those or anywhere around the area. He didn't want to have to come back to Penny and the others with the burden of Lulu's death.

"Sora!" Donald yelled as he sent a fireball towards the Heartless. " Focus on the Heartless!"

"Sorry!" He summoned his blade and ran towards the Heartless. His sudden movement drew the Heartless attention and made him its next target. It stomped the ground as it tried to flatten Sora underneath its feet. Sora jumped, slid, and stumbled around as he tried to not be flattened and struck when the its foot got stuck in the mud.

**Clank!**

Sora stumbled back as his blade recoiled off the scales covering its foot. He stared at the spot he stuck to see he hadn't even scratch him. A roar brought his attention to the heartless as it snapped at him in retaliated. He fell backwards and felt the wind pass by his face and a loud snapping noise in front of him as he barely dodged its sharp fangs. He quickly tried to stand up and run away to only find his body was stuck in the muddy waters. Not missing a beat the Heartless struck again to capitalize on Sora blunder. A thunderbolt striking its face caused it to miss its target as it fell sideways from the surprise attack.

"Sora, are you okay!" said Goofy as he tried to pull Sora out of the mud trap.

"I'm fine, just got a little stuck." said Sora sheepishly,

"Pay better attention Sora!" yelled Donald as he sent another barrage of lighting at the Heartless. "This is no ordinary Heartless."

"I know" said an annoyed Sora. "I just got stuck in the mud that's all."

"Gwarsh, if only there was some way to not get stuck in the mud."

"Goofy, now isn't the time to be thinking about the mud help me with the Heartless. You to Sora!"

"Sorry Donald" said Goofy as he finished pulling Sora from the mud. "Just trying to help Sora."

'Not affected by the mud' Sora thought about the idea. 'Maybe there is a way' "Hey Donald, Goofy I think I know a way to even this fight out." He looked up to see that he was talking to himself. The others had moved on and were already fighting the heartless. "Guys!"

He grumbled at them missing out on his great idea before he focused on his key blade. Light surrounded him and seconds latter a flash obscured him. When the light died down, he stood in blue clothes while hovering inches of the ground. "Wisdom Form" He grinned as he noticed the difference in his mobility as he moved around.

"Sora! Where are you!"

"Oh, sorry I'm coming!" He dashed towards the fight. 'Now I won't get stuck'.

[-]

**Ruined Platform**

Riku felt his eye twitch as he continued to listen to the boy's story. 'I'm regretting ever asking for an explanation. Maybe it would have been better just to not know anything about him._'_

"Then you had that gay moment with that other kid over a message and a bottle. That was the final straw for me. I mean come on, you get a message and then hold hands with him and skip through a portal of light. Makes me think your gay or something. Now that I think about it, you were getting pretty chummy with that dude on Spira."The boy gave him a suspicious look. "You're not actually gay… are you?"

"No! I'm not gay!"

"Seesh, calm down." said the boy as he put up his hands to show he meant no harm. "I don't have anything against you if you were gay. It would just clear up a lot of my questions about you. You know, letting that older dude possess your body, always thinking about Sora, and your chumminess with other guys. Heck you only have one girl you even talk to really. Are you sure you're not gay?"

"No! For the last time I'm not gay!" Riku yelled angrily. "How does this even add into the story of your creation. All I got was your thoughts on my life for the past year or two."

"Well, duh, that means I've been inside you since the beginning of two years ago. Really those are my first memories I can think of. Unless I repressed the earlier ones to not be scared for life by one of your actions…maybe."

Riku gritted his teeth to stop from exploding in anger. "You told me nothing really. I don't even know your name."

The boy sighed before he stood up. "Sorry but no can do on the name dude. We don't got any more time to be talking."

"You're just making excuses to not tell me!"

"No, I really mean we don't have any more time"

The platform began shacking as bits and pieces began to fall from the edge of the platform. Riku and the boy scrambled closer to the middle as the shaking died down.

"Told you so." Said the boy jovially.

"What the hell is happening."

The boy sighed and gave an annoyed look. "Didn't I already tell you that this place is falling apart. This platform is the only place still intact. Once this place crumbles, poof! We both stop existing."

"I see… What do you mean we both stop existing?"

"Calm down, we got two ways of fixing this." He said with a grin while holding up both of his hands with one finger raised on each. "And their quite simple and easy to do."

A dark feeling of unease and fear began to stir as he looked at the grinning boy before him. "And those would be?"

The boy's grin grew eerily larger and his eyes flashed with dark glee. "First option is… you die and become nothing more then a memory."

Riku looked at him like he was crazy. "What the hell. That's not even an option to me."

"But I don't like option two!"

"It can't be as bad as option one!"

"Option two is for me to die and for you to go back to happily live your life with your friends." He frowned as he told him the option. "Although, I really don't like that option. So I say go with one!"

"Those can't be the only options!"

"Yep, those are the only ones. Sucks doesn't it. Anyways times a ticking." said the boy as the platform began to shack again. "I say one."

"I say two!"

He frowned at Riku but instead of being angry he began to laugh. "Okay then, we'll go with option three!"

"What option three? You said there was only two options!" Riku felt a migraine coming on as he tried to make sense of this… idiot he was talking to. "What's option three and please don't tell me its us both dieing."

The boy laughed "No, option three is the first person to kill the other lives!"

"…What!"

"Here I come!"

"Wait!"

**Clang!**

Riku barely summoned his key blade in time to block the boy sword. They pushed away from each other and landed far apart. Riku took a closer look at the boys weapon. _What in the hell is that! _The boy was holding a sword made of darkness.

"Oh, you looking at my weapon. It's actually not that impressive compared to your keyblad." The boy lunged at Riku.

Their swords clashed repeatedly as Riku tried to hold off the boy's frenzied assault. A low kick caught him by surprise and he crashed into the ground. He quickly rolled to the side as the boy plunged his sword into the ground. "Damn, almost got you there. You better than I thought." Before he could respond he was under attack again.

"Hold on!" said Riku as he blocked the boys attacks. "Do we really have to kill each other."

"Yes! We do! I will never go back to being simply part of you ever again. Either you die here or I do!" Screamed the boy as he tried to cut Riku leg off.

Riku cried out as he was unable to fully dodge the blow and staggered back limping on his left leg. He felt blood begin to drip down it.

"If you want it that way that badly. Then I won't lose!"

He dashed forward and collided his blade with the boy's. "There we go!" Cackled the boy "No more talking. It won't do any good. Now its time for us grasp our lives by our own hands. I wonder who will win!"

"Your crazy"

"Maybe!" laughed the boy as staggered back with a cut across his cheek. "Who cares about my mentality right now anyways!"

"I do." Riku said as he traded blows with the boy. He felt cuts appearing all over his body and noticed that the boy was also bleeding heavily as well.

"Damn, you fight better then I thought! But times almost out! Look around you."

Riku looked around and noticed that the platform was almost gone.

"Better hurry up, or we will both die here today!"

"Shut up already!" Yelled Riku as they charged at each other. Blades clashed in a mad dance of sparks and blood. Riku stumbled from a harsh blow.

"Got you now!" The boy said gleefully as he appeared beside Riku and swung his blade.

_Crap… I can't block it with my sword. _Riku watched as the blade approached his exposed neck. Time seem to slow down before his he felt his body react on instinct.

"**Dark Shield"**

"Huh?" The boy's blade bounced off of Riku's shield and caused him to lose balance.

"There!" Riku brought his blade down to slash down through the boys left shoulder and down across his chest. The boy stumbled back as blood sprayed from his wound. He fell to his knees as his left arm hung lifelessly by his side.

"Ouch… That hurt a little there" The boy gave a week chuckle as blood continued to flow freely.

Riku cautiously approached him. "It's over… you lost."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" The boy struggled to his feet as blood came out even greater quantities due to the stress he was putting on his body. "This fight isn't over yet. No, this fight is over when one of us is no longer alive."

Riku sighed as he readied his weapon. "Very well."

"You don't understand… how much of a hell it is in this place."

Riku key blade wavered as he heard the anger in the boy's voice. "What do you mean?"

"It doesn't matter what I mean. I no longer want to have to watch the world through your pathetic experiences and or so called life." The boy charged toward Riku. "I no longer want to be part of a weakling like you!"

Riku parried his blow easily. "You can no longer fight anymore."

The boy smirked "I'll show you how wrong you are."

He faked going for Riku neck and tried to sweep Riku's leg out from underneath him. Riku jumped up to avoid his attack. "I already said that you don't have the stren-." He was cut off when the boy used his good arm to push himself into a handstand and kick out with both of his legs. They connected with his stomach and sent him flying backwards.

Riku flipped his body over to try and land on his feet. To only notice that their was only gaping darkness below him. The boy had kicked him off of the platform.

"You should really pay attention to your surroundings!" The boy cackled as he watched him fall.

**Thud!**

"… Oh come on! That's no fair!"

Riku laid stunned on a piece of debris that was still amazingly afloat. He hastily stood up and looked around for a way back to the platform.

"Guess I can't get rid of you that easily." The boy sighed as he swayed from blood loss. "Seems like I'm going to die from bleeding to death before this battle is over."

The ground underneath Riku began to crack as his weight bore down on the already weakened ground.

The boy noticed and began to chuckle. "or you could plummet to your death first. Either way seems like a anti-climatic ending to me."

'I got no choice but to try and jump from debris to debris to make it to the platform' Riku backed up as far as he could to get a running jump. He ran forward, jumped, and landed on another piece, stumbling a little, but balancing himself and sped up.

The boy smirk as he watch Riku make his way towards him. "That's more like it Riku. Lets finish this with a bang!" He summoned dark power around him into floating orbs. Riku eyes opened in shock as he jumped towards the platform. Bet you didn't know I could do this! This will end it all!" Riku gathered his remaining energy and formed a shield in front of him as flew towards the boy.

"**DARK AURA"** / **"DARK SHIELD"**

The platform shook from the explosion and a cloud of smoke covered the area. Seconds later a body fell from the platform with a sword stuck in its chest.

* * *

**AN:** Sorry about the late update but its here. Next chapter is the final one. Although, I haven't really thought about how it will end. Still kinda iffy on who will win the battle and Lulu's chance of surviving.


	12. Victory For You

**An:** Final Chapter for this story. Hope you enjoyed the read and sorry for the long update. Had computer problems that were really bad.

* * *

Victory** For You, Defeat For Me**

**Infirmary**

Kairi worriedly sat between two beds in the infirmary. Sora lay still beside her as he recovered from his battle with the heartless. She had asked the others on what happened to Sora for him to be injured like this. She had been told that Sora was injured when he froze up in battle for no reason. Donald and Goofy couldn't tell her much more than that since they were confused on the matter as well. Sora was moments away from dealing the killing blow before he froze up with a look of pain and shock on his face. Luckily the heartless was already dieing and was unable to strike the finishing blow.

Kairi sighed as she looked at the other bed beside her. Lulu was in much worse shape then Sora. Her body was covered in bandages that were already beginning to turn red from her blood. Even after Sora was wounded, he had told everyone to find Lulu before he was treated. They had finally found her, two hours later buried underneath trees and soaked in mud, water, and blood. Lulu was carried back to the ship by Goofy while she had to help Sora walk back.

Penny was freaking out so much that she had to be locked out of the infirmary so she could focus on bandaging Lulu and Sora. Donald had to help her with what little healing magic he could do to keep Lulu from dieing. All through the night she and Donald had stayed up to keep Lulu alive and Sora stable. By morning Donald had to retreat to his room to sleep but Kairi had stayed behind to keep watch on her two patients.

The worst part was the obvious lack of Riku. They hadn't found his body or heard anything from him since yesterday. It was only yesterday that they had all been together and so close to finishing their mission. They were so close to returning home but now it seemed their return home wasn't as close as she thought. The door opening interrupted her worrying.

"HOW IS LULU DOING!" yelled a worried Penny as she came in with the two little Rescuers on her shoulders.

"Be quiet Penny!" Kairi whispered sternly to her. "Don't wake them up."

Penny put her hands over her mouth with a sheepish expression. "Sorry." She whispered quietly but gave her a hopeful expression. "How is Lulu doing? Is she going to be okay?"

"Don't worry Penny. Sora and Lulu will b-" she paused when Sora groaned and shifted uncomfortable before becoming still again. She waited a few more moments to see if he would wake up before she turned back to Penny. "Sorry Penny but I can't talk to you in here."

"But why not."

"I don't want to disturb them."

Penny pouted and turned to leave with a depressed face. She paused when her stomach gave a loud growl to tell the world she was hungry. Kairi laughed ad her own stomach growled in agreement with Penny's.

"I guess I could talk to you while I make breakfast."

[-]

**Kitchen**

Kairi sighed as she messed around with her breakfast. She had just gone through a grueling session of having to fill in and reassure everyone here that Sora and Lulu were fine. At first she was only interested in making breakfast for her and Penny, but the others had woken up at the right time to catch them on the way to the kitchen. So she had ended up making breakfast for everyone. She stared down at her food and sighed at how she hadn't even took a bite yet. 'They ask me so many questions that I couldn't even eat and now its cold.' The moment she sat down everyone had asked her about how sora was, if lulu would be okay, what happened to Riku, and a bunch of other questions she hardly knew how to answer.

After she answered their questions the best she could, they had all lapsed into silence as everyone thought about what had happened yesterday. The silence was broken when Penny asked the one question that was on her mind as well. "Do you think Riku is okay?"

"I don't know Penny. I hope so… I really do."

With her despondent answer, everyone had gone back to being silent. 'I can't eat like this.' thought Kairi as she picked up her plate and dumped her food into the trash. "Sorry guys I can't really tell you much more than what I've told you. The best I can do is make sure Sora and Lulu are okay." she said as she walked out of the kitchen and back to the infirmary. Everyone could only watch as she left for they had no words to comfort her.

**?**

'… Waves?' Riku slowly opened his eyes to find himself floating in a sea of darkness. 'What happened?' His eyes traveled around until they focused onto his chest or more exactly the sword that was stuck in it. Amazingly he didn't feel any pain or panic at seeing the sword in his chest. He felt oddly relaxed and detached from his surroundings.

"Still alive I see."

Riku eyes focused towards the voices direction to see his other self sitting on a platform staring down at him. "Still alive?"

"You lost… these are your final moments of your life before you."

Riku knew those words should have scared him or made him mad but his body just couldn't find the strength to dredge of those emotions. All he felt was detached, tired, and most of peaceful. 'Is this how death is suppose to feel? Where is the pain, sadness, hate, worry, heartache, or even most important Regret?'

"You're not … you would … dieing."

'huh? His voice is getting father away… or is it that my hearing is failing? Huh… now that I noticed, where did my sight go.' Riku body felt lighter than it had ever felt before. Everything seemed to be fading away. All he could feel was the pull of the ocean and the sound of waves.

"Before … die … name is …'

Riku heard no more as his conscious faded away. 'huh, guess I'll never know his name.' was the last thought that fluttered through his mind.

* * *

**AN- **The end! Yeah, I know i never did tell you the name of the evil Riku , but I think it was better that way for this type of ending.


End file.
